The Legend of Zelda: Cries in the Dark
by Opal223
Summary: This book is also after TP, but it's a separate story, different from "the war with nikitre." Note: Not a sequel . Link and Midna defeated Gannon, but Midna had to go back to the Twilight Realm. Link is on cloud nine as people celebrate his heroism and he prepares to be knighted by the King of Hyrule! He's even dating Zelda! ZeLink! :D But as life changes, what'll happen to him?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

Hello, everyone! This is a new fanfiction. It takes place after Twilight Princess, but it is VERY different from "The War with Nikitre." So just to let you know to not mix the two up. :) Link is very famous now that he has defeated Gannon and saved Hyrule. He's even dating Zelda! :DDDD Things are going great for our favorite hero in green, but when life changes, what will happen to him?

The Legend of Zelda: Cries in the Dark

Chapter 1: Fame

I remember it all vividly like it had happened yesterday. Wait! It did happen yesterday! I was in the middle of the Market, and there was a gathering taking place. It was the day after I had defeated Gannon and saved Hyrule. The King was there making a speech to the common-folk. "Hyrule…what a beautiful country we live in! We are so blessed to be standing on such hallowed ground!" He briefly looked around at the crowd of cheering, smiling faces. "We are gathered here today to recognize one of your fellow countrymen…as the hero he has proven himself to be." He paused as the crowd roared. "His bravery, his stamina, and his determination are qualities that will surely inspire us all." He looked around with a huge grin on his face and continued with a speech about heroism. I was behind stage, nervous as all get out because I knew in a moment's notice I'd have to come out from behind the curtain of security. I took a deep breath, if only to seem like I were gaining composure. I was so thankful for this occasion, I mean, how often do people like me defy the European Feudal System? Virtually never!

After running my hands through my dirty blonde hair, I braced myself for the big moment. I wasn't used to being recognized like this. The King spoke again. "This certain man, through the act of saving us all from Gannon's tyranny has certainly earned the name of Hero of Time!" The crowd could barely control themselves at this point. People were throwing their hats into the air, screaming, throwing other various items around and lifting each other into the air. "Without further ado, I give you Link Connorman!" I walked out and was received by deafening screams fueled by jubilee. Men were shouting, women were swooning, and kids were trying to get onstage. I waved to the crowd and smiled, and two women in the front row fainted. I was pleasantly embarrassed, for everyone was beside themselves with excitement. I looked around me and smiled again, thinking to myself, "is this really all for me?" I couldn't believe it! "Embrace the cheers and excitement!" The King shouted happily. "You deserve it, after fighting for the sake of justice and Hyrule! And for that, I am honored to knight you today surrounded by all these witnesses." The crowd exalted once again.

"Thank you, sir." I said.

"Now, if you'll bow down in front of me please." He said to me. I bowed down in front of him. He gently placed a sword on my shoulder. "I hereby dub thee as Sir Link Connorman, member of the royal army. You may stand. I stood up as everyone cheered again.

A man a few rows back started to yell at the top of his lungs, "speech! Give a speech, Sir Link!" Soon the whole group was chanting the word in a repetitive, hypnotic manner. "Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!" Everything went blurry around me as nervousness sank deeper into my veins. It started to feel as if their screams and chants were becoming slurred, and then everything went black.

Shortly after I woke up and realized I had fainted. I agreed to give a speech without preparation. I went up to the podium. "Thank you all, I'm amazed beyond words with the amount of enthusiasm I see here. I-I'm a shy person, so it's a little awkward for me giving a speech up here, and I hope I'm doing alright—"

"You sound wonderful, Sir Link!" A young woman said; batting her eyes.

I blushed and cleared my throat. "I'm humbled, and I never thought I'd be standing where I am today. I promise to serve you all with dedication and respect so long as I shall live." They all cheered again. "Thank you for the cheering and adulation. I feel special. I'm sure that today will go well! I'm looking forward to serving you all as a knight!" I flashed a grin, turning red again as the King made an announcement. "Today we shall have a parade, and then a feast with the royal family for our young hero!" And shortly after that the parade began. One could clearly see the animation in the crowd. That lasted a couple of hours, and then it was time for dinner.

I was sitting in the castle around the table with the King, the Queen, Zelda, and a bunch of knights. I was living the dream, but something was bothering me…

The King raised his glass. "To the current Hero of Time. It is an honor to have you in our presence."

"To the hero!" They all shouted with a raise of their glasses.

All the chatting, cheering, and merriment occurring around me began to sound muffled as I could hear the pulse in my head with more intensity. Zelda could notice that something was bothering me. "Link, what's the matter?"

I took a deep breath to regain composure. "I guess I'm just not used to these fancy things, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at all the attention. But it's a good feeling, and I appreciate it very much."

"I'm glad you appreciate it, Link." She smiled.

My heart melted seeing her smile. I looked at her beautiful azure eyes and was at a loss of words.

More celebrations ensued that evening, complete with dancing and fine-dining. A couple of guards had gotten absolutely hammered over the wine, and they weren't making any sense.

"Cyan ai heeavva nudda grass?" One of them slurred.

"eeeeeaaaaeeee for Rink!" The other hiccupped. "Baht Ai tink ui ad enahf whine."

"Ohkeh." The first one slurred once more. A slow waltz started to play from the orchestra. "Mei ai half dis dahnsa?"

"Surtinlee." The hiccupping one replied.

I laughed at the sight of them dancing together clumsily in the ballroom. Zelda looked at me as I took my attention off of them and looked at her. "They're funny." She giggled. "Note to self," she said, moving her hands in the air pretending that she's writing "don't have too much wine!" She and I laughed together. We finished laughing and there was a moment of silence. "Say, Link…" She said quietly.

"Yeah?" I said back.

"Would you like to dance?"

I blushed. "Sure, princess." She just giggled again. She held my hand as we went to the middle of the room and began to waltz. Nothing could ruin this moment as we twirled around the room. After all that I've been through these past 19 years of my life; losing my mother and my father at a young age, my friend Adam dying of a tumor at 10, and fighting for the sake of my life and for the sake of all in Hyrule against evil, it feels like it's all paying off. For every failure and bump in the road, "there is a light at the end of the tunnel." There is success. That evening after all the dancing was over, we gathered together to socialize. It was me, the royal family, the guards, and about 300 other guests. I sat down in a chair, mesmerized by the pile of gifts in front of me.

"These are all for you, Link." The King grinned.

"Thank you so much." I said humbly. They watched as I opened gift after gift for what felt like hours. I received some armor, shields, swords, boots, bows and quivers, candies, baked goods; so many different things. I felt so lucky; being showered with praises like this…it felt good. I thanked everyone for the gifts and we all stayed for a few more hours, talking and playing games into the night. When the guests had all gone home it was around midnight.

Zelda walked over to me as I was sitting on a chair in the ballroom. "I want to talk to you about something, Link."

"Okay." I said to her.

She and I stood up and walked over to one of the tall windows in the room. She started to look out of the window. "I have been thinking…"

"Is something bothering you, Zelda?" I asked her.

"No." She said as her eyes glanced downward and to the side. "I've talked to my father about you. And…I have a question for you…" She looked really nervous as she twiddled her thumbs. I looked at her. "Do you want us to date?" She said the sentence very quickly.

I went red in the face. "I would really like to date you, princess. So…" I looked at her beautiful face. "Your father is ok with us dating?"

"Yes." She said. "He thinks that you'd be a fine suitor." She said happily.

I couldn't believe it! Her father thinks that I'm a fine suitor! I was so elated! "When do you want to go on a date?" I asked her.

"Whenever you want to." She beamed. "I think it would be good to go out tomorrow." I nodded. "How does 5:30 sound? We could meet up together right here in the ballroom and go out to eat."

"Thanks sounds great, Princess!" I said to her with a smirk.

She came closer and kissed me on the cheek. "I'm looking forward to our date." She said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I said as I watched her walk out of the ballroom. I went to my new bedroom in the knight's quarters. The knight's quarters consisted of a hallway and a bunch of bedrooms in a lower level of Hyrule Castle. It felt weird at first, staying in such a nice bedroom. The queen bed was certainly bigger than the twin one I had back home at Ordon Village. I put my bags down on the floor and plopped onto the bed. "The sheets are definitely made of fine silks and linens!" I said to myself as my head sank into the pillow. I rolled over so my face was looking up at the ceiling.

I got up with a jolt when another knight was knocking at my door. I stood up and opened the door for him. "Hello, Sir Link. Getting accustomed to the knight's quarters, I see."

"Yes." I said to him.

"I'm glad." He said, giving me a smile. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Sir Jacob Plowman, the leader of the knights." He shook hands with me. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." I beamed.

"Training starts in two days at 5am. Don't be late!" I nodded. "Have a good night." He started to head out of the room.

"You have a good night too, Sir Jacob Plowman." I said. I shut the door and went back to bed. I drifted off to sleep shortly after.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Where we last left off, Link and Zelda decided to go on a date! Yay! Enjoy! Please review! :DDD **

Chapter 2: Dating the Princess

The next morning I slept in and woke up at around 10am. That's a record for me! I guess I was exhausted from all of the hype and celebrating that happened yesterday. I got dressed and went out of the castle. I wanted to find a new outfit for my date with Zelda tonight. I went to a men's clothes shop near Malo Mart and walked in. I looked around at ruffled shirts, bright white stockings, and other fine pieces of clothing. I said to myself, "this isn't me," and promptly walked out of the store, convinced that I'd look just fine in my normal hero garb. I then decided to go to Telma's Bar and talk to her for a while. Telma looked at me as I walked in. "Hey honey! What brings you here?"

"I'm not busy, so I just thought I'd come in and get some milk." I told her.

She poured me a glass and set it on the counter as I sat down. "Oh. When does your knight training start?"

"Tomorrow." I sighed. "I have to be up early…"

"How early?" She looked at me.

"We start at 5am, so earlier than that."

"Ugh." She shuddered. She changed her expression to a smirk. "How's living at the castle? Ought to feel like Mr. Important, huh?"

"It's nice." I said, taking a large drink from the mug. "But it'll definitely take some time to adjust."

"Not used to luxuries?" She questioned.

"Not at all." I chuckled, taking another drink from the mug. It was cold and fresh, just like I liked it.

She began to dry a cup she had just washed with a towel. "Anything else going on in your life?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." I said, scooting my mug around on the counter and then looking at her. "You know how I told you that I liked Zelda?" She nodded. "Well, she and I are going on a date tonight."

She dropped her cup on the floor and it shattered into pieces. She screamed with joy. "Yay!" She jumped up and down from behind the counter.

"You do realize you just broke—" I managed to say.

"Doesn't matter! You, YOU are dating Zelda!" She pointed at me and winked. "I suppose you're pretty happy about that!"

I reddened and smiled. "Yeah. I am." I finished off my milk and she refilled it. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." She said. "So, what are you two going to do?"

"We're going out to eat at the Italian restaurant down the street."

"Oh. Sounds good. What time tonight are you meeting her?"

"5:30."

"Ok. Good luck on your date. I hope it goes well." She smiled, giving me thumbs up. I gave her thumbs up back. I talked to her a little bit longer and finished the rest of my milk.

The rest of the day I spent time on my own in my room. I read a book and polished my sword. Yeah, it was not too exciting. When it was 4:30 I got ready for our date. At 5:25 I was anxiously waiting in the throne room for her. I paced back and forth until I heard her sweet voice. "Pacing the floor, I see?" She giggled from behind. Oh, how I loved to hear her giggle!

I turned red, being caught red-handed as I was. "Yes. Got any problems with that?" I teased, turning around to get a look at her. She was wearing a beautiful blue, floor-length dress. It wasn't as fancy as her normal dress, but she still looked radiant.

She laughed. "No problems, here."

I locked arms with her. "Shall we go, princess?"

"Yes, noble knight. We shall!" She beamed. We walked out of the castle and went into town.

When the two of us walked by some of the common-folk we drew quite a bit of attention. "Is Sir Link dating Princess Zelda?" One woman asked another. "Lucky." said a man that was leaning against a wall.

"Guess the cat's out of the bag." Zelda said.

I laced my hands together and put them behind my head. "That's alright! People would have found out eventually, anyway!" I chortled.

"True!" She laughed in agreement.

We went to the Italian restaurant and got a table. The waiter looked at me and Zelda in shock. "Why, it's Sir Link and Princess Zelda! It's a pleasure to be in your presence!" He put out a couple of menus, gave us pillows, and switched the chairs for more comfortable ones. "The two of you are very special; you've done a lot for us all. Your dinner is free of charge!"

"Thank you for your kindness." I said.

"Thank you." Zelda said.

"You're welcome! Enjoy!" He smiled and walked away.

Zelda and I started to look at our menus. After a couple minutes of browsing she spoke up. "How does lobster sound?"

"I've never had lobster, but I'd like to try it." I said, looking at the item on the menu.

"Ok." She said with a grin. We ordered the lobster and it came out in about 30 minutes. We started to eat and chat.

I took my first bite of lobster. "This is good!"

She beamed and took a bite. "I'm glad. Lobster's my favorite!"

When we were finished eating, she and I sat by the fountain in town and faced each other. The streets were quiet.

"Tell me." I swallowed nervously. "What…what do you like about me?"

She looked at me, and then at the water as she put her hand in and swirled it around. "You're brave, benevolent, and…quite dashing." She took her hand out of the water. When I saw her face redden I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks. She was still looking at the water when she suddenly looked at me with a look of intent. "What about me?" She leaned in closer, taking me by surprise. "What do you like about me?"

"Where do I start?" I said. "There's so many things…you're beautiful, kind, determined, and unique."

"Oh." She looked back at the water, still blushing. "Thanks…that's so sweet."

"Thank you." I said; the heat still very apparent on my cheeks. She then looked at me for a good minute. "Is everything alright?" I questioned. She laid her lips on mine, and my heart pounded out of my chest. She stopped kissing me, but I kissed her to return the favor. It was a long kiss this time. I looked around to see that the area of town around the fountain was still pretty deserted. "I like kissing you…a lot." I told her. She and I kissed again. We looked at each other and stood up.

"I had a lot of fun." She said while smiling at me.

"I did, too." I smiled back. She took a hold of my hand and we walked back to the castle. By the time I had given her a kiss and gone to my room for bed, it was 11:30pm. I had better get to bed! Sir Jacob Plowman was in the hall near my room.

He looked at me. "Hello, Sir Link. I heard from the grapevine that you are dating Princess Zelda. How did that go?" He simpered.

My face turned a color of scarlet. "It went well."

"Good." He said with a chuckle. "I'm happy for you! What did you two do?"

"We went out to dinner at the Italian restaurant."

"Oh. I took my wife there the other night." He smiled. "It was the last night that I had at home before having to come to the knight's quarters."

"How long until you can head back home?" I inquired.

"Two weeks. So thankfully it's not too long. That's why she has a dog. Its name is Ulna. I gave her Ulna when I started knight's training last year to keep her company. She used to get worried at night when I wasn't home."

I responded with a nod. "That's good that you were able to find something to keep her at ease."

"Yeah." He sighed. "Well, I had better get to bed. You had better do the same. Goodnight, Sir Link."

"Goodnight, Sir Jacob." He walked away. I went into my room, got undressed, took a shower and dressed in pajamas. I went over to my bed and plopped onto it, falling asleep quickly. I had a really frightening dream about a memory I have always wanted to forget.

_It happened when I was 4 years old. My mother and I were at the house waiting for my dad to come home. She and I were playing with some of my toys. I looked at her, putting my toy horse onto the ground. "When is daddy coming home, momma? I want to see him!"_

_She patted me on the head. "I want to see daddy, too." She smiled sweetly. "He'll come home soon, ok? He's on a mission."_

"_Why does he go on missions? What are missions, momma?" I was very confused._

"_Missions are what your daddy does for work. Missions are when you protect people and help them with problems." She grinned. "It's what our family does. We've done it for a long time. Your great-grandfather, your grandfather, and your father have all done missions."_

"_Oh. It sounds cool, momma!" I said, jumping up and down. "Will I get to do missions?" I stopped jumping._

"_Yes. When you come of age daddy will train you how to use a sword. That way you can be a hero like him someday when you're big and strong!" _

"_I can't wait for then, momma!" I shouted. _

_She picked me up and twirled me around the room. "I'm going to feed Lenny." After putting me down and giving me a kiss on the head, she walked out. Lenny was my mom's horse. I didn't know it until later, but she found Lenny stabbed in the chest and dead. A man stabbed her from behind the back when she least expected it. She fell to the ground and died. The assailant came into the house to hurt me. _

"_Aha! So they did have a child!" He yelled, picking me up by the shirt collar. _

"_Let go of me! My daddy will come and hurt you!" I screamed, thrashing about to break free. Despite my efforts he had a strong grip on my little frame. _

"_I will make sure that there can be no new Hero of Time! The bloodline ends here! Prepare to die, little boy!" He grinned evilly. _

_I screamed again, but this time I screamed for my father. "Unhand my son, criminal!" My father shouted, stabbing the man in the back. "This is for my wife!" The man dropped me and fell to the ground. My father picked me up and gave me a hug. "Thank god I came home when I did!"_

_I started to cry from the trauma. "Where's momma?" _

"_Momma…momma went to heaven."_

"_When will she be back?"_

"_She won't be back." He sighed deeply, looking angrily at the man he stabbed. His expression turned kind but sorrowful when he looked at me. "We will see her when we go to heaven."_

"_When can we visit heaven?" I looked at him with my head cocked to the side._

"_Someday." He said._

I rose from bed with tears streaming down my cheeks. I remembered what had happened after that. My mother's body was buried at the cemetery in castle town. Three months later my father, even though he was healthy as a horse, caught the flu. Rusl stepped in to take care of me when my dad was sick. He died a week later from his illness and was buried beside my mom. "You got to visit heaven before me." I said to myself, laying my head back down on the pillow. I tossed over to look out the window. I noticed a tree next to my window that looked like a monster in the dead of night, so I knew I hadn't been asleep long. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, everyone! Thanks again for reading! :DDDD Link and Zelda had a very successful date, and now to see what'll happen with Link's training!**

**Note: As the chapter implies, there is French spoken at certain parts in this chapter. There will be another (recognizable) character that will act as a translator for the parts in French, so please pay attention to parentheses as they are sometimes used for the english translation. :) Enjoy! :DDDDD Please let me know if the French is accurate, I used an online translator, so I'm sure there are bound to be some mistakes...:) **

**And as always, please review! It helps make me a better writer! Thanks so much! :DDD**

Chapter 3: Destination, France!

I woke up to the sound of bugles, signaling that it was time to get up and get ready for training. I sat up in bed and with a yawn, rubbed my eyes and face with my hands. I got dressed and headed outside of the castle to follow the other knights-to-be. We ventured out of town and into Hyrule Field. We were in a horizontal line, all facing Sir Jacob Plowman. "Alright men! Today's the day that we start training for the royal army of Hyrule!" We saluted him. "There will be heavy burdens on your shoulders from here on out! Bear those weights with pride! No matter what, our duty as an army is to protect the royal family and our blessed country of Hyrule!" The men whooped and hollered. Sir Jacob came over to me. "Sir, Link."

"Yes sir!" I saluted him. It was the etiquette of Hylian knights to salute their leaders, be it the king or leader of the knights.

"You are excused. The king wants to speak to you. Report back to Hyrule Castle."

I saluted again. "Yes…sir?"

"Don't salute with a questioning tone, Sir Link! You should know better; I don't care if it's your first day!"

I tried saluting him one last time. "Yes sir!" I bellowed.

"That's better." He said with a crack of the mouth.

I went back to the castle to speak to the king. I knelt down before him in the throne room. "No need for kneeling, Sir Link. You are dating my daughter after all." He said, expressing happiness.

"Right." I said, standing up. "What would you like me to do for you?"

"I just wanted to tell you…" He glanced over at the archway to see a familiar face peeking from it. "Zelda, you can come in to listen, you know? There are no secrets."

"Ok, father." She walked into the room. My heart fluttered at the sight of her. She flashed a shy smile at me.

I looked back at the king. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. There has been a mix-up. You do not need to be trained as a knight. You have had plenty of experience already. I will inform Sir Jacob of this. That is all."

Feeling bewildered, I went back to my room to relax.

**…**

The next 6 months were filled with some missions that were close to home, and of course, more of dating Zelda. I started to feel very strong feelings for her. Every time I saw her my heart would skip a beat, and I couldn't wait to embrace her in my arms. I felt like a lucky man! Otherwise life was pretty uneventful. One day I was summoned once again into the throne room by the king to hear of another mission. I was ready! I enjoyed my job very much. I walked into the throne room to see not only him, but Zelda as well. He was sitting on his throne and she was sitting on hers.

"I need you to do me a favor, Sir Link." I looked at him, seeing him gesture to a servant that was standing next to him with a box. The servant opened the box and showed me the contents. It was a beautiful new shield. "I need you to deliver this shield to the king of France. It is a gift for him."

"Okay." I said to him. "How long will it take me to get there?"

"It will take you a few days to get there. You should return home in a couple of weeks, though. There shouldn't be a lot of risk; France is a very peaceful country, I can assure you."

"It _is_ home to the famed 'city of love,' so I'm sure that there will be no worries." I grinned. "If anything I'll be loved to death." He and I snickered. I was glad where our relationship was, he and I got along well. We were almost like…dare I say it? Buddies.

"Paris!" Zelda's eyes twinkled. I could tell by her expression that she really wanted to go. She looked at her father and he shook his head. She hung her head in disappointment. "I really wish I could go with you, Link…"

"I wish you could, too." I said, looking at her father.

"I would let her, trust me…but there's too much risk involved with her traveling solely by the fact that she's royalty." He looked at Zelda. "Sir Link won't be gone too long, though. I promise."

"Alright." She consented. "Come and see me before you leave, Link." She said to me. I nodded as she left the room.

"As for any language barriers…" The king said. "I have a translator for you. Come on out, Rusl."

Rusl stepped out. I looked at him and gave him a friendly hug. "Hi, Rusl! You never told me you spoke French!"

"I dabble in it!" He smirked. "I took it at school when I was 13 to impress a girl I liked."

"How did it work for you?" I asked him.

"Didn't get the girl, but I ended up loving the language, and I still study it in my free time!" He said.

The king laughed. "I figured Rusl's knowledge of French made him perfect for the job, and since you two already know each other it should be a simple task for you to travel together. Are you two alright with leaving immediately to make it take less time?"

"Yes." Rusl and I said together.

"It's settled, then." He had the servant take the shield out of the box and put it into a velvet sack. The servant then presented the sack to me. "You two are dismissed. Be safe." He smiled a gentle smile as we walked away.

"I need to go talk to Zelda real quick." I said to Rusl as we walked down the hall.

"Alright. Please hurry, because we still have to go back to Ordon to pack things up."

"Okay." I said to him as I walked towards Zelda's room. Rusl headed out of the castle to wait for me. When I came up to her door I knocked. "Zelda, you wanted me to come see you?"

She opened the door and gave me a hug. "You'll be sure to stay safe?"

"Yes. I will." I told her as I gave her a kiss.

"Please take lots of pictographs with your picto box for me! I want to see what France looks like!" She beamed.

"I'll take lots of pictographs!" I smiled. "I have to get going, now." We shared a big hug and a long kiss.

"Goodbye." She said to me

"Goodbye." I said back, letting go of her hand that held mine as I slowly walked away. I didn't like leaving her. I have been on shorter missions where I've been gone for only a couple of days at a time, but I have been on a lot of them, and I can't help but feel guilty whenever I leave her. I walked out of the castle and met up with Rusl. He and I went back to Ordon Village to pack our things. We left Hyrule at 10am. We were going to travel through the forest, go over a mountain pass, and then we'd be in Paris within 8 days. I had never been this way before, but I guess Rusl had. He said he had never been to France, but that he had been to a couple of villages that were along the way.

Soon it was 9:00pm and we were still in the forest, but quite a long ways away from Ordon Village. We'd officially cross the border from Hyrule into France in 7 days. (Note: obviously not at all factual, but let's assume it is for this story! :) We decided to pitch a tent and set up camp for the night. The next few days of traveling were very uneventful. Soon it was the 6th day of traveling, which was when we had to go over the pass. It was no big feat whatsoever.

On the eighth day we arrived in Paris. I started taking all sorts of pictures for Zelda. The scenery here is to die for! Rusl and I started walking the streets to look at the shops. Soon we walked by a couple of young women. They looked about 15 years old. One of them had very short black hair and grey eyes, the other had long blonde hair and green eyes. They started talking amongst one another in French. "Oh mon dieu, Becky! Il est si mignon!" The blonde lady said. "Je veux sentir ses muscles du bras!" The black-haired lady said. The black-haired lady started advancing towards me.

"What's going on, Rusl?!" I demanded to know some answers. I looked at him and he looked worried when he saw my eye twitch. He knows I do that when I'm annoyed!

"They think you're cute." He said, pointing at the black-haired one. "And she 'wants to feel your arm muscles.'"

"WHAT!?" I shouted.

"It's what _she_ said, not what I said!" He shouted back.

"Êtes-vous disponible?" The blonde-haired lady said.

"What did they say, now!?" I said, backing away from the black and blonde- haired ladies.

"The blondie wants to know if you're available." He replied flatly.

"Tell them I have a girlfriend!" I yelled, putting my hands up for protection.

"Je suis désolé mesdames, mais il a une petite amie! (Sorry ladies, but he has a girlfriend.)" He barked at them. They sighed and walked away, getting distracted by a fine jewelry store and running in. "Diamonds are a girl's best friend!" He cackled.

"I guess so!" I laughed with him.

After we had looked around town we went to the castle to deliver the shield to the king of France. The castle was L-shaped and had light tan-colored sandstone on the outside. We went up to the gate and Rusl began to speak to one of the guards. "Bonjour. Nous sommes les messagers de Hyrule. Nous sommes venus pour délivrer le bouclier pour le roi. (Hello. We are the messengers from Hyrule. We have come to deliver the shield to the king.)"

"Oh. Nous avons été vous attend. (Oh. We have been expecting you.)" The guard said as he opened the gate. "Allez-y. (Go ahead.)"

"We can go." Rusl said. I nodded.

We went in and met the king face-to-face. He and Rusl talked for a good little while about who-knows-what. The king then addressed me in English?! "You are…Sir Link, am I right?"

"Yes." I said, amazed that he knew English.

"Ah! It is nice to meet you, noble hero!" He smiled and shook hands with me. There was a strange affect to him, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"It's nice to meet you too, sir." I said. "We have come to give you a gift." I presented the shield to him.

"Thank you." He said, taking the shield from me. "I really appreciate it…" He had a servant take it for him and put it away. The servant looked so scared for some reason. I wondered why? "You two may go home now." He smiled. "Go on." He gestured, his smile looking a little more strained.

I thought this was strange of him to say! It was already almost dinner time, and we just got here! I would be perfectly fine with Rusl and me leaving tomorrow at the earliest, especially because I want to get back to Zelda ASAP, but I don't want to leave tonight! Why did he want us to leave now?

Rusl spoke up to the king. "With all due respect, your excellency, why are you telling us to leave?"

"Because you are not needed anymore…and the sooner you leave, the safer you will be." He frowned. "France has always been a very peaceful country, but lately there have been a lot of criminals and pickpockets roaming the streets. I don't want either one of you to be harmed." Rusl looked at me and mouthed, "What the hell is he talking about? We'll be fine!"

"Rusl and I appreciate the concerns, but we both have efficient weaponry by which to protect ourselves. I personally do not see any problem with us staying the night at an inn." I said to him as kindly as possible.

"Ok. Do as you wish." He said. "But know that you have been warned. It is not safe." Rusl and I walked out of the castle and went into town to reserve a room at the inn.

As we were walking down the street I started to talk to him. "What was his deal?"

"I'm not sure, but he acted strange…" He replied, laying his eyes on a bakery. "Let's not worry about that, though. We should get some dinner before checking in at the inn. I'm hungry!"

"I am too!" I laughed. We both went into the bakery and started to look around at the various baked goods. We both ate salad in the restaurant that was in the bakery, and then we bought some baguettes to take to our room at the inn when we were finished. I looked at a clock tower that was nearby when we got out of the bakery. "8:30." I said aloud.

"So it is." Rusl said. "We'd better go check in." I nodded as we started to walk towards the inn. We didn't talk after that; I figured it was because we couldn't think of anything to talk about. He carried the bag of baguettes loosely in his left hand, and I was walking on the right side of him. We were both looking ahead of us when something took Rusl by surprise. He looked frantically at his left hand to see that the baguettes were gone. He checked his pockets and realized that his wallet was gone too. I looked at him and realized what had happened when he looked behind him to see a black-cloaked figure running in the opposite direction with the baguettes and his wallet. He and I turned around and started running after the thief. "Au voleur! (Stop thief!)"

"Hey! Who do you think you are?!" I called to the figure. We did not get any response, the figure just kept hustling to get away. As I looked at the figure while pursuing it, I realized by its stature that it did not look like an adult. It looked like a child. The figure took us deep into the woods as we chased it. I ran ahead of Rusl and came face-to-face with another black-cloaked figure pointing their bow and arrow at me. I was forced to screech to a halt. The first black-cloaked figure ran behind the one with the bow for safety, for they did not have a weapon.

"Ne marchez pas toute proche! Je n'ai pas peur d'utiliser cet arc!" The figure shrilled in a strange-sounding man's voice.

I looked to Rusl from behind me to hear what the figure had said. "He said, 'don't step any closer! I'm not afraid to use this bow!'" Rusl responded.

I didn't know what to do; I didn't want to hurt anyone if I didn't have to, so I just stood there with my hands up, feeling helpless.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, everyone! Where we last left off, Link and Rusl were robbed. When Link tried to pursue the thief he was stopped by a man with a bow and arrow...what's going to happen now? Enjoy! XD Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 4: Not Welcomed…

I stood there as the man with the bow didn't move. "Can I explain please?" I laughed nervously.

"Tais-toi! (Shut up!)" He shouted, getting closer. The arrow was about 2 inches from my nose.

"Obviously that didn't help…" I said defenselessly; looking at Rusl.

"Don't worry, Link." He said. He went towards the cloaked man with the bow. "S'il vous plaît ne pas utiliser la force! Nous avons été volés et que vous souhaitez nos biens de retour. (Please don't use force! We have been robbed and would like our belongings back.)

The man with the bow lowered his weapon, and I finally exhaled. He looked at me. "Vous ne comprenez pas le français, vous le faites? (You don't understand French, do you?)" I shook my head.

"Je suis ici pour la traduire pour lui. (I'm here to translate for him.)" Rusl reacted.

"I will give you back your belongings, if you promise to leave." He said in a thick French accent.

"You do know English?" I asked.

He bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Yes. You promise to leave, correct?"

"We promise." Rusl and I said together.

"Adam." The man with the bow called to the other cloaked figure.

"Yes?" He retorted.

"Return their belongings to them."

With reluctance, Adam went up to us and gave Rusl back the baguettes and his wallet. "I am sorry." Adam said.

"It's alright." Rusl responded. He looked at the cloaked man with the bow. "Before we leave, would you be willing to answer a couple of questions?"

"It depends. Shoot." He reacted.

"Why are you both in cloaks?"

The wind suddenly started to blow fast enough to blow the cloaks out of place at the man's feet. "I cannot answer that. Now please leave. France is not safe at night."

With a nod, Rusl began to walk away, but I wouldn't move. "Sir, please answer us some questions! My friend Rusl and I have not been very welcomed here, and we have come all the way from Hyrule. Where's the hospitality? Can you answer me that?" I was starting to get irritated.

"You believe in the stories of France being so lovely, don't you? That's quite a foolish belief." He said bluntly.

"Link, let's go." Rusl said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I forced his hand off of my shoulder. "Sorry Rusl, but I want some answers." I mumbled.

"Isa—" Started Adam. The man with the bow looked at Adam. "Isatonne…let's go." He said restlessly.

"That's your name? Isatonne?" I said with sarcasm. "Really?" I changed the tone of my voice to normal. "I don't believe that. And you know what else I don't believe? That voice of yours. You have the strangest male-speaking voice I have ever heard!"

Adam started to tug at Isatonne's arm. "We have to go. He knows too much."

Isatonne patted him on the back. He stood back and Isatonne looked at me. "You are smart, Link." He said. He took off his cloak to reveal a fair young woman with wavy red hair and striking hazel eyes. She wore a very plain and cheap-looking white dress. "I am Isabelle Lucille." She shrieked. "But just because I'm a woman doesn't mean that I'm weak; make no mistake of that!"

I would be lying if I said I wasn't astounded by her beauty, and by the fact that I sort of thought she was a man up until this point! "I-I…" I said, taken aback.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" She said conceitedly.

"I w-wouldn't d-doubt your strength, m-miss." I stuttered.

She grabbed me by the shirt collar. "Do NOT breathe a word of what you have seen or heard, got it?" I gave her my assent. "Now," she murmured with annoyance, letting go of my shirt collar. "Any more questions?"

"No." I said absolutely.

"Then leave, S'il vous plait." She said calmly. "Go back to where you came from."

Rusl and I walked away, feeling unsure of what to think about what we just saw.

"It looked like you were a little under pressure!" Rusl teased.

"Well, did _you_ expect her to be a lady?"

"No…I didn't…" He said. "I wonder why Adam stole from me, and why Isabelle wore that cloak, and—"

"Why she posed as a man? That's the weirdest fact…I still feel like there are a lot of unanswered questions." I said to him while rubbing my neck.

"She was very adamant with not telling us anything more…so I guess those questions will remain unanswered." He looked at me. "Let's go check into the inn."

"Yes. Let's." I said. We walked into the inn and Rusl went to the front counter. I looked at a clock on the wall and realized that it was 10:00.

"I'm sorry, sir. We are all booked." The lady behind the counter said.

"Are there any other inns nearby?" He questioned. She shook her head.

"Argh!" I complained as we walked the streets outside. "Why?! Why are there no more rooms?!"

"We can't change it." He said. "Maybe we could see about staying at someone's house?"

"Whose?" I pondered.

"The castle?" Rusl suggested.

"I don't want to go there, we won't be welcomed…" I said.

"We won't really be 'welcomed' anywhere." He said.

"You're right."

He thought to himself for a minute. "I have an idea! Maybe…just maybe Isabelle and Adam will let us stay?"

"And having to deal with _that_ abuse again? I don't think I want to do that!" I said with a grunt.

"It wasn't that bad! You just don't want to associate with her because of how pretty she is!" He taunted.

I grimaced, blushing bright red. "No! She is NOT pretty! Have you conveniently forgotten that I'm in a relationship with Zelda?!"

"No…I'd never do that!" He smiled fiendishly. "Just admit it, she's gorgeous."

"Yes, she's physically attractive. I said it. You happy?" I said with agitation.

"Quite pleased." He crossed his arms and nodded his head. "Yes, I am." I rolled my eyes. "Look, let's just ask her; otherwise we won't have a place to stay." Rusl stated.

"Fine…but know that she won't be a happy camper to see us again, I guarantee it!" I said.

"I know I know…" He replied with a smile. "Now, just to find her."

We walked by a grocery store with people rushing in and out of it. I guess it was open late? I saw 2 familiar black-cloaked figures walking out, the taller one carrying a bag of groceries. Rusl and I followed at a distance. After walking into the woods, I spoke to them. "Isabelle?"

The taller one froze, but turned around. She looked relieved to see that it was only Rusl and I. "What are you doing here? It's late."

"Hahaha…funny story." I said, rubbing my upper right arm nervously with my left hand. "We, uh…" I trailed off, unable to think of what to say. Why do I always get so nervous around girls? She looked at me in confusion.

"The inn's booked, and we hate to trouble you, but can we have a place to stay for tonight?" Rusl said smoothly. Yeah, of course he can speak to girls so easily! He's older and married! So now I really looked like an idiot!

"I suppose…" She said. "But you will probably have to sleep on the floor."

"That's fine." Rusl said. "We're not too picky, and we head home tomorrow anyway."

I called Epona and we walked with Isabelle and Adam further into the forest. We came up to a very small cottage. Isabelle fumbled with some keys and opened the door. I hitched Epona at a horse stall next to the house. I was surprised to see another horse. He was grey with a brown mane.

"I see you've found Bugle, my horse." She laughed.

I turned around quickly. "Yeah." I said, looking back at the horse.

"Rusl and Adam are already inside. Should we join them?" She asked.

"Sure. Let me just finish hitching Epona." I said.

"Alright." She said. "There's some hay in that bin over there." She pointed to my right at a storage bin. She then walked inside of the house.

I fed Epona and then came inside of the house with my things. It was definitely cramped. In the living space there was a small fireplace with an old sofa in front of it and a bookshelf to the right of the fireplace. Across from the living area was a tiny kitchen area with a sink, fridge, pantry, a little bit of counter space, and a stove. There was also a small closet, which was to the left of the fireplace. Isabelle opened the closet and got out some pillows and blankets. "Um…where's the bathroom?" I asked, turning red.

"There's an outhouse outside." She replied. She then pointed to two out of 3 doors. "That one's my room and that one is Adam's room. Just to let you know if you two need anything." She pointed to the third door. "That's the door to the shower."

"Ok." I said, heading out the front door and towards the outhouse. I hollered, "thank you" on my way out.

"Guess he had to go." Adam said with a chuckle.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hey there, everyone! Thanks again for reading! Where we left off, Link found out that the man with the bow threatening to shoot him was actually a lady!? Due to some strange events, Link and Rusl don't have any other choice but to stay at the house of this crazy woman! (Ok...it isn't that bad. ;) There are a lot of questions running through their minds about this girl named Isabelle and her companion Adam. Will they get answered?**

**Note: starting at this chapter, there are some serious subjects discussed. That's why it's rated T. :D Enjoy!**

Chapter 5: Secrets

After I went to the bathroom…:| Rusl and I got ready to go to sleep.

"I suppose one of you could take the couch." Isabelle said, pointing to the couch. "The other will have to sleep on the floor, though."

Rusl and I nodded.

Adam headed to his bedroom after saying "goodnight" to everyone. He opened the door and then shut it softly after he went in.

"Who is Adam?" I asked Isabelle. "Is he your kid or something?"

Rusl face-palmed himself and Isabelle looked annoyingly at me. "Does that even make sense to you? He's 10." Her eye twitched. "And _I'm_ 19."

"Whoops!" I said bashfully.

"Since you're so curious, he's my little brother." She replied dully.

"I…" I started.

"What?" She said.

"I'm sorry…" I rubbed the back of my head while burning up.

"You're forgiven." She sighed.

"Did you just say a minute ago that you're 19?" I enquired.

"Yes. Why?" She returned.

"I'm 19."

"Oh." There was silence.

"Let's play the age game!" Rusl said excitedly, trying to break the silence. "I'm 46!"

"How about not?" I said to Rusl. He looked at me like I smashed his birthday cake.

Isabelle looked at me and said, "When is your birthday?"

"December 28th." I replied.

"Mine is January 10th. That's funny how close our birthdays are!" She let out a small laugh. She went to the fridge and got out some milk. "Do you two want any?" She swished the jug.

"No thanks." Rusl and I both said.

She poured herself a glass of milk and went to her bedroom door. "Goodnight." She said with a yawn.

"Thanks again for allowing us to stay here." Rusl said.

"Yes, thanks again." I said.

"You're welcome." She opened the door to her room, went inside the room, and then closed it.

Rusl punched me in the arm. "You two have very close birthdays!"

"Yeah? So?" I said as I put a blanket and pillow on the floor. "I'll sleep here so you can have the couch. You _are_ older anyway."

"I'll ignore that statement." He said as he lay down on the couch. "You know that belief that Hyrule has? The horoscopes?"

"What?" I said.

"You've never heard about that belief Hylians have with the horoscopes? 'People that have close birthdays are meant to be together?'"

"NO!" I reviled him. He laughed. "Besides, mine and Zelda's are closer." I huffed.

"Really?" He said.

"I'm December 28th, she's December 30th." I said coolly. I lay down and tucked myself in. "Let's just get some sleep…"

"I wonder where her parents are." He said randomly.

"How would I know?" I said, closing my eyes.

Isabelle came out of her room. "I forgot to tell you guys something." We looked at her. "Adam is…well, he is going to school early tomorrow and I…I have work early, too."

"How early?" I quizzed her.

"We both have to leave at 4:00." My eyes widened. "But you and Rusl can stay later…just know that you'll probably wake up to no one else in the house, ok?"

"Okay." I said.

"Gotcha." Rusl said.

She went back to her room to sleep. I looked at Rusl. "What kind of work makes you start around 4am?"

"Maybe she works at the bakery." He said. "But that doesn't explain why Adam has to leave at that time too…"

"Something isn't adding up." I said, lying back down. I fell asleep shortly.

I woke to the sound of coughing. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 3:45am. I saw that it was Isabelle who was coughing. She was in a yellow dress, walking briskly to the fridge. She opened it up and got out two apples. She then went over to Adam's door and lightly knocked on it. "Adam, nous devrions vite. Il est 03h46." She whispered.

"Très bien. Permettez-moi de saisir ma sacoche." Adam said. Isabelle walked over my way, so I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. She walked away when Adam came out of his room, so I opened my eyes again and watched. "Vous avez été vérifier sur eux?"

"Oui." She replied.

"Combien de temps devrons-nous être des esclaves, ma sœur?" He questioned sullenly.

"Je ne sais pas, mais nous allons le faire à travers ensemble. Nous avons toujours, et le sera toujours. Je vous promets." She gave Adam a hug.

Rusl's eyes opened and looked at me. He mouthed to me, "I don't like what I'm hearing." I mouthed back, "what are they saying?" He mouthed, "I'll tell you later." Rusl and I watched them leave. As soon as the door shut, Rusl sat up. "The first couple of things were just normal. Isabelle was telling Adam that they needed to hurry and leave. He said to her, "How long will we be slaves?" She told him, "I don't know, but we'll make it through together. We always have, and always will. I promise."

"Slaves?" I said, shuddering at the word.

"Yeah I know…it's strange." He stood up. "Maybe we can find some clues in the house?"

"Okay. I'm in." I said, standing up as well. We both folded up the blankets and put them away along with the pillows. Rusl and I decided to split up, he'd search Adam's room, and I'd search Isabelle's room. I went to her door and opened it. I found a small bed with a couple of end tables, and a dresser with a mirror hanging on the wall. There was also a very small closet, but everything looked very old and worn. Her room was absolutely neat to a pin! I went over to a little box on top of the dresser and slowly opened it. It began to play music. "Shit!" I jumped.

Rusl ran in. "What? Did something bite you?" He laughed.

"No. This thing just started playing music, and it scared me!" I clamored with irritation. We both looked in the little box with curiosity. There was a small diary in it. "Bingo! This'll give us some clues!"

"You're not going to violate a lady's privacy and read her journal, are you?" He said questioningly as I opened to one of the entries.

"Nope." I showed him the page written in French. "You are!" I said smugly. "And translate it, please."

He groaned and began to look at it. "This one isn't good."

"What?" I was interested.

"It's boring. It's about this guy she likes." He replied. I instantly reddened. "Relax; psycho…it's not you! It's about some guy named Pierre. It says here she's known him since she was 12. Let's go to a later entry." He flipped a few pages until he got to an entry that was only a few days old. His eyes flew through the first page. "Ah! This is more of what we need! It says:

_Dear Diary, _

_I am tired of my brother and I being succumb to slavery. Many people, especially in Paris, do not know of the tyranny the king of France is truly causing, and it breaks my heart. I'm planning on speaking a sermon about it in church on Sunday. Crossing my fingers and hoping it's successful…in case I forget where I put the original speech I'm going to write a copy in here:_

_**What have we come to? France used to be so wonderful to live in…that is, until king Dubois took over. He is greedy and selfish! We all try to give him excuses for the way that he is, I mean; he is our king. But I am tired of giving him excuses! In a span of 11 years I have been forced to trade my freedom for shackles, my happiness for the whip, and my faith and love for justice for yelling slave-owners that beat me relentlessly. Why? I am seen as scum! **__**We**__** are seen as scum! My brother and I are not the only ones going through this torture; we **__**all**__** are! We have **__**all**__** had to make sacrifices for our mediocre king! I know that God did not put us on this earth to be slaves. And yet because we are lower on the food chain, poor as dirt; whatever you call it, we are forced into it as if it is our destiny! This is living hell! I have prayed that someday someone will hear our cries for mercy and lend a hand to save us. Since that day will not ever come, I ask you to join me in taking the liberty into our own hands! Some way, somehow; let's join forces and face our slave owners! Even if it means death, death would be better than this world we live in! Look at your brothers, your sisters, your parents; they have all been in pain for too long! It's our time to fight for what is right and good in the world! I have been beaten for the last time! What about you? **_

That was the end of the diary entry. "Wow." I said.

"Yeah." He said. "This was written 3 days ago, and today's Saturday, so she's going to present it tomorrow, it sounds like."

"Let's stay and help her." I said. He nodded his head in agreement. He looked at the most recent entry, written yesterday. "Here's another one."

_Dear Diary,_

_I am proud of myself and my brother for being able to hide from our original slave owner for this long. We unfortunately still have to have a slave owner, but they aren't nearly as cruel. Our owner is supposed to beat us, but they have only beaten my brother and me for major mistakes, not for the other minor mistakes or mishaps that happen daily. If we cannot stop the slavery in France, then I'll at least be satisfied that we've left our original slave owner and aren't being hurt as often. There is one downside to this, though. My brother and I must hide our faces at all times in fear that HE will find us. That is why my brother and I wear our cloaks…even though they aren't fun to wear. A prime example of the complicatedness it creates happened today. A couple of foreigners were pickpocketed by my brother. He didn't mean any harm; he was hungry, but nonetheless these foreigners came to "set us in our place." I was tired after a long day at our owner's house cleaning the house and making clothes…so I wasn't too happy to see this young man chasing my brother. I threatened him with my bow because I thought that Adam and I would be harmed, and it turns out that they thought __**they**__ would be harmed, which they would have been if they tried to harm us. In the end all they wanted was their things back. Later tonight they came needing a place to stay. I know it's a risk, but I decided to allow them to stay. It's funny how life can seem so bleak, and then something like this as unexpected as it was, ends up happening. One of them is 46 years old, and is excellent in French. The other one however, knows NO French, and is very odd. He asked if Adam was my child! I was appalled! How he can be my age and this clueless is beyond me! I know one thing for sure; he'd better be thanking God that I didn't beat him to a bloody pulp! _

I broke in. "She thinks I'm odd and incompetent!?"

"Woah, don't get so flustered!" He said. "Let me read the rest." My eye was twitching again…Rusl continued:

_Despite the weirdness of the one, I would like to trust them both and tell them what is happening. They both seem very genuine, but I don't want to take that risk. Only time will tell if this is destiny calling my name to take action…_

Rusl and I concluded that we would both do anything that we could to help Isabelle and her brother. Just to figure out HOW we are going to help them…


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, everyone! Where we last left off Link and Rusl found out more about Isabelle and Adam's lives. Now that they know the truth they want to do nothing but help. Will Isabelle and Adam accept the help?**

**On a side note: If you've paid real close attention, you may have noticed that there are 2 Adams. One was Link's friend from when he was younger, and the other is Isabelle's brother. They are two completely different characters. I just thought it would be interesting to have them both have the same name. :) Enjoy, and as always; please review! :DDDD ありがとうございます！！(Thank you!)**

Chapter 6: Bitter Memories

Isabelle and her brother came back to the cottage at around 9pm. They were shocked to see that we were still there. Isabelle looked at me. "Why are you and Rusl still here?"

"We want to talk to you and Adam." I said, looking at her earnestly. "We want to know more about the issue in France."

"What issue?" She panicked. "What have you seen that has made you think there's an issue?" She looked towards her bedroom door, and a look of mistrust fell upon her face. "Did either one of you happen to go into my room and look inside a box on my dresser?" She accused. Adam looked at us like he was saying, "you're dead! I'd run now!"

"So what if we did?" I shrugged.

She grabbed my arm and started to squeeze it tightly and I winced in pain in response. "Tell the truth!" She glared.

"Okay!" I screamed. "I found the stupid box! I found your diary!" She gritted her teeth and squeezed harder. "LET GO OF ME, PLEASE! OWOWOWOW!" I cried.

"Please Isabelle!" Rusl shouted. "Let go of him!"

"Why?!" She said. "I know that you would have had to read it for him because he's illiterate in French! You are both going to pay!"

"I'm going to bruise if you keep this up!" I yelled.

"Shut up!" She yelled back, letting go of my arm and getting ready to punch me in the face.

"Isabelle! Stop it!" Rusl yelled. "We have some explaining to do…please allow us to explain."

She pulled back from me and I rubbed my arm as if it would relieve the pain. She's got a strong grip! "Okay, Rusl…explain." She said. I started to speak up. "I DON'T want to hear from you!" She hollered, leaning towards me. I put my hands up in defense. She leaned back and looked at Rusl. "Well?"

Rusl was laughing and mouthed to me, "horoscopes!" I just rolled my eyes. He then looked at Isabelle, who was confused by Rusl's mouthing but had no clue what he said. Rusl spoke to her. "He and I both heard your conversation with Adam this morning. We both thought that it would be a good idea to find evidence in your home regarding the situation, and then offer to help you. It isn't that we didn't believe you…we simply wanted more information."

"I decline the help." She said, rolling her eyes. "I can take care of myself. I have taken care of my brother and I for 6 years, BY MYSELF, need me mind you! I don't need a couple of men thinking that they have to help me."

"We want to help you get rid of the slavery in France, not take care of your brother." I said to her.

"What did I tell you about talking?!" She howled, holding up a fist at me.

Rusl sighed. "Perhaps I should have told you earlier. Link may not look it, but he's a noble."

Her eyes grew in astonishment as she relaxed her hand out of a fist and put it down to her side. Her mouth was wide open as she looked at me, unable to come up with words. When I nodded she finally spoke up. "If you're a noble, then why aren't you dressed like one?"

"Rusl and I have to keep a low profile." I said. "Because of that," I began to reach into one of my pockets, "and the fact that I just became a noble." I pulled out a leather badge case and opened the flap, revealing my badge that I'm required to carry as a knight. "Here's your proof."

"Why…why did the two of you come to Paris?" She asked.

"We had to deliver a shield to your king. It was a gift from the king of Hyrule." Rusl said.

"Oh." She looked at me. "I'm sorry about squeezing your arm…and for threatening to punch you, Link…or Sir Link…what do you prefer? Wait, why am I asking this? Of course you'd want to be called by Sir Link…" She mumbled.

"You don't have to call me by Sir Link. I'm perfectly fine with Link." I grinned.

"How did you become a noble? If you don't mind me asking…?" Her eyes cast aside.

"There was an evil man trying to take over Hyrule. I went after him and defeated him." I said.

"He's a real hero." Rusl beamed. "He's very famous where we come from. He'd be perfect for helping you and Adam with this movement."

"Okay." She said. "I'm…humbled, to say the least. I never thought anyone would care about helping us…" She looked down at her feet, which were a little dirty. "The truth is I'd really appreciate the help."

I smiled at her. "We'd be happy to help!"

Isabelle gestured to the table. "You can sit down. I'll tell you what I know."

Rusl and I sat down at the table with her.

"It all began when I was 8. King Dubois took the throne after king Johnathan died of cancer. Everything seemed fine, but a couple of days after he took the throne he became very power-hungry." She looked down at the table. "He wanted to have all the wealth…so he split everyone into two sub-categories; the slaves, and the slave owners. The slave owners do not get a lot of extra perks compared to the slaves, except that they do the beating; they don't get beaten. Slaves get a weekly pension of 10 rupees, which is not enough to live on." She looked at Adam and then back at us. "Thus my brother and I eat fruits and vegetables that are easy to access and cheap to pay for, or we starve."

I looked at her. "Starve?" She nodded. "That's horrible." I said to her with sympathy.

"It is…" She looked at me sadly. "A lot of people in France live the same way. Slave owners get a weekly pension of 50 rupees, but in order to become a slave owner you have to get 'special permission' from King Dubois. My brother and I would never want to be slave owners, so we are slaves…"

"Has anyone ever tried to stop the slavery?" Rusl inquired.

"Sure." Isabelle said. "People have tried to stop the slavery, but they didn't live to tell about it."

"Are you sure you're willing to take that risk?" I asked her.

"Living like this is too much to bear." She looked at Adam bitter sweetly. "All I care about right now is the safety and happiness of my brother and me, and if I have to die in order for him and others to live happily, I would be glad to take the fall."

"You are brave." Rusl said to her. I nodded in acquiesce.

"Thank you…" Her eyes started to get misty. "Excuse me for a minute." She stood up and walked to her room.

"That must have really struck a chord with her." I said.

"It did." Adam replied. "My sis always works so hard to take care of me, but she never takes care of herself." He shook his head. "I don't want her to feel like she has to die for me or for other people. I want her to be happy."

I sighed and stood up. "I'll be right back." I went to her door and put my ear up to it. I heard sniffling and quiet sobbing, which made my heart break. I don't like hearing any lady cry. I knocked on the door. "Is everything alright, Isabelle?"

"Don't bother her right now, Link." Rusl said.

I looked at him. "I want to make sure she's okay." I whispered. He nodded.

"I-I'm fine…" She said quietly from behind the door.

"Can I come in and talk to you?" I asked.

She opened the door to a crack and peeked to see me. Her eyes were swollen from tears. "Sure…"

I walked in and looked at her. "Can I sit?" I pointed to her bed. She nodded. The two of us sat on her bed. "I just want to make sure that you're alright."

"I just…I don't know what to think." She said. "I really appreciate the help that you and Rusl are offering…but I think it's hopeless."

I looked at her. "Rusl and I want to help you and Adam. As soon as I heard of the slavery issues, I knew that I wanted to help you somehow." She looked into my eyes. "NO ONE should ever go through that kind of treatment. You are human, and should be treated as an equal human being." I said to her.

Her hazel eyes started to tear up and she looked away. "I'm sorry." She tried to wipe her tears. "I shouldn't be crying like this." She looked at me again. "Thank you Link, from the bottom of my heart. I really needed to hear that."

"You're welcome." I said, patting her on the back. "Rusl and I will stay here in France as long as you need us to help you. Hopefully we can end this together." I smiled.

"Thanks." She smiled a small smile. We walked out of the room to sit and talk some more with Rusl and Adam. Rusl and I left a little while later to stay at the inn for the night, which had a room this time. I sat down on my bed to write Zelda a letter:

_Dear Zelda,_

_I couldn't help but think about you tonight, so I thought I'd write you a letter. I miss you so much, and I hate being away from you. I want to hold you in my arms, and every moment that I'm here I realize that I can't, and I fall apart inside. Something came up here in Paris. Many of the people here aren't kind at all, and I thought it was just because they were rude and inconsiderate, but it turns out that they have a reason. So many people here are being forced into slavery. The new king here; I know why he doesn't have a lot of contact with your father or any other monarchs, he doesn't want the contact. He doesn't want them to know how greedy he is. It's crazy, and the French keep it well hidden. This one young lady and her brother told Rusl and me about it, they were the only ones that we could get to talk to us about real issues. The rest of them will act friendly and then try to push us away. This young lady and her brother are planning on taking action, and I feel it is my duty to help them because they have been treated so poorly, and Rusl feels the same way. I am going to have to be away from you for just a little while longer, but I will continue to write. If you have any ideas about how Rusl and I can handle this situation, I'd love to hear them. I know that you'll understand. I will come back to you as soon as I can, I promise. _

_Love,_

_Link_

I put the letter in an envelope to put in a mailbox tomorrow. I missed her more than words could describe, but I felt the need to help Isabelle and her brother. I put the envelope on my end table, slipped under the covers of my bed and went to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, everyone! Where we last left off Link and Rusl told Isabelle and Adam that they wanted to help, so now Link and Rusl are planning on going to church with them. What will happen next? Here's a hint: This chapter is full of comedy. :) Enjoy!**

Chapter 7: Help

The next day I mailed the letter and then we all went to the church. Once we got inside, Isabelle and Adam took off their cloaks. I was perplexed. "Why did you and Adam take off your cloaks?"

"Because the church is a safe place to be. Here we don't have to worry about our disguises." She smiled and it was like taking in nothing but the sunshine. "None of the slave owners go to this church. This is a church for the slaves only." Rusl and I went with Isabelle and Adam to find seats in the pews. She looked at us. "I think we should sit in front. I'm going to mention your names and your offer to help us during the sermon."

We nodded and sat in the front pews. A few minutes later church started and we began to read in the bible. Then the preacher started to preach. He went up to the podium and looked at us all and opened his arms. "Bonjour, tout le monde! Nous sommes dans la maison du seigneur aujourd'hui. Peut-il être avec nous aujourd'hui alors que nous essayons de mettre un terme au mal en France. Je suis désolé que mon discours est court aujourd'hui, mais c'est parce que Mademoiselle Isabelle va parler d'un sermon d'aujourd'hui. Mademoiselle Isabelle, si vous voulez tenir. (Good morning, everyone! We are in the house of the lord now. May he be with us today as we attempt to put an end to the evil in France. I am sorry that my speech is short today, but that is because Miss Isabelle is going to speak a sermon today. Miss Isabelle, if you would stand.)"

Isabelle stood up and walked to the podium. She gave her speech, tears flowing down her face. It was sad, but everyone seemed to be getting into it; they were listening so attentively. When she finished her original speech, she mentioned Rusl and I. "Je vous remercie d'avoir écouté mon discours. J'ai avec moi un couple d'invités spéciaux. Je les ai rencontrés l'autre jour et bien que j'étais réticent, je leur ai dit mon histoire, une histoire que nous partageons tous, malheureusement. Ils ont proposé de nous aider. Leurs noms sont Sir Link et Sir Rusl. (Thank you for listening to my speech. I have with me a couple of special guests. I met them the other day and although I was reluctant, I told them my story; a story that we unfortunately all share. They have offered to help us. Their names are Sir Link and Sir Rusl.)" She smiled at us and said in English "If you two could please stand." Rusl and I stood up and walked to the podium. I could tell by their gaping faces that they were surprised to see how rich we looked compared to them.

I was nervous and just stood there grinning like a buffoon. Meanwhile Rusl started to speak to the crowd. "Merci, mademoiselle Isabelle pour nous introduire. Je sais que le français, mais mon ami Sir Lien ici ne pas, donc Dieu merci, Mlle Isabelle peut parler couramment les deux langues. Nous sommes tous deux heureux de vous aider de quelque façon que nous pouvons, vient de nous dire ce que vous avez besoin. Merci, tout le monde. (Thank you Miss Isabelle for introducing us. I know French, but my friend Sir Link here does not, so thank goodness Miss Isabelle can speak both languages fluently. We are both happy to help in any way that we can, just tell us what you need. Thank you, everyone.)" The crowd applauded him.

"Showoff." I mumbled under my breath.

We sat back down and grabbed out some hymnal books to sing with the choir. "That's my cue." Isabelle said quietly as she stood up and walked to the piano. I looked at her with slight confusion because I didn't know that she played piano. She began to play. It sounded beautiful. Her hands glided so gracefully over each key she played. It was almost like a fluid motion to watch her play; one could tell that it came very naturally to her. She then started to sing a soprano solo from the piano:

Je me promène ici, (I walk around here,)

Savez pas quoi penser (Unsure what to think;)

Entendre les cris (Hearing the cries)

de mes frères. (Of my brethren.)

Que Dieu nous aide (God help us.)

Aidez-nous à croire, (Help us to believe,)

Croire en nos rêves. (Believe in our dreams.)

Que Dieu nous aide. (God help us.)

Apportez-nous au (Bring us to)

Un meilleur endroit. (A better place.)

The choir started to join in with her. God, she sounded like a bird! I didn't know she was so gifted in music! Even though everyone was singing around me, I just mouthed gibberish because I didn't know French, and I didn't want to sing. I am not good at singing. After that church was over. It had only lasted about an hour and a half by the time everything was finished. Isabelle went to go talk to us, but Rusl was busy communicating with other people in French, so she decided to talk to me. "I saw that you were mouthing gibberish!" She let out a sniggle. "It was funny."

"I can't sing or speak French…so…" I blushed. "That's what I did to get by."

She let out a sniggle once again. "I see."

I looked at her. "You…"

"What?" She questioned. "Is there something on my face?"

I went bright red. "You…sing beautifully." I looked to the side.

Her cheeks turned pink. "You really think so?"

"Yeah." I said, nervous to look at her.

"Thank you." She said, still blushing.

Someone that Isabelle knew came up to her. "Oh. Socialiser, je vois. Etes-vous deux un article?" She tittered and winked.

"Non!" Isabelle said quickly, her face turning rosy. "Nous sommes juste connaissances!"

The girl looked at me. "You two dating…no?" She said in broken English.

I put my hands up and waved them side to side while shaking my head. "No!" I said, feeling the heat of embarrassment on my cheeks.

"Je ne vous crois pas! (I don't believe you!)" She said.

"S'il vous plaît laissez-nous tranquilles, Georgiana. (Please leave us alone, Georgiana.)" Isabelle instructed. Georgiana walked away. Isabelle looked at me. "I'm sorry about that. Georgiana is my…childhood enemy, you could say. She always makes fun of me."

"I can't believe that she thought we were dating. That's strange!" She and I laughed it off.

"Yeah, you aren't my type." She tittered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I teased.

"Just that you're not my type." She said, looking around.

"I know that." I said to her, poking her arm. "Pierre is, though!"

She turned a dark hue of red. "Stop! Don't say anything more!" She started to get mad.

"I know your secret! Haha!" I taunted. She huffed. "I know!" I said with a wink. "Let's go find him!"

"You wouldn't dare!" she protested. I started to walk and she grabbed my hand in attempt to stop me, which surprised me. People began to stare.

I let go of her hand as a voice called out "Isabelle?" She froze as a handsome man with black hair and blue eyes walked over to us. He looked at her. "Je ne savais pas que vous sortiez quelqu'un? Eh bien, il est beau, je suppose. (I didn't know that you were dating someone? Well, he is handsome, I suppose.)"

She looked at him and sighed with annoyance. "Nous ne sommes pas dans les fréquentations. Je ne trouve pas séduisant. (We are not dating. I don't find him attractive.)"

He raised a brow. "Vraiment? Alors que vous venez de faire le tour en tenant la main de tout le monde? Je ne savais pas que vous étiez si trop affectueux? (Really? So you just go around holding everyone's hand? I didn't know you were so overly affectionate?)" He said sarcastically.

She looked at him and spoke shyly. "Non, il n'est pas que, que ce soit... (No, it isn't that, either…)"

"Quelle que soit. Rendez-vous autour, Isabelle. (Whatever. See you around, Isabelle.)" He walked out of the church.

"So that was Pierre?" I asked nonchalantly.

She clenched her fists. "You embarrassed me! Now he'll never talk to me!" She slapped herself in the face.

"You're the one that held my hand!" I replied smugly as her anger escalated.

"It wasn't at all affectionate, so forget about having that thought in your head!" She shouted.

"Trust me, I didn't think that." I said while rolling my eyes. "Besides…" I whispered to myself. "I have a girlfriend."

I didn't know that she heard the last part. She smiled viciously. "Oh. So you do have a girlfriend? Tell me about her!" She laughed meanly.

"You don't need to know about her!" I yelled. "So don't ask!"

"Now you know how I feel!" She yelled back.

Rusl came over and noticed that we were staring angrily at one another. "What's with this rile?" He questioned concernedly.

"Don't get into this, Rusl." I said while gritting my teeth.

"But I'm—" He began.

"Don't." I said.

"Are you—?"

"Shut it."

"Alright?"

"Just please don't, Rusl. I don't want to talk about it." I sighed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Link and Rusl have gained full trust of Isabelle and her brother. Now to hear about the extent of the torture the people of France are going through. This is a serious chapter, but I hope you enjoy! :DDDDD **

Chapter 8: Stories of the Wounded

The next day Rusl and I met up with Isabelle and Adam in secret. They weren't working for their owners because they had a night shift today instead of a day shift. The goal that the four of us had was to speak with some slaves and learn more about the hurt they've been through. I wasn't looking forward to it because it's a very serious and sorrowful subject, but I wanted to learn more. I thought it was strange about how Isabelle didn't really want to tell us about her story. Adam didn't really want to tell us, either. I resolved to confront Isabelle about it. We were in her house sitting at the table when I spoke up. "Our mission today is to learn more details about the slavery…can you tell us what you've been through, Isabelle?"

"I don't feel comfortable…" She said. "I know that you need this sort of information to get closer to helping us stop the slavery going on in France, but it's…" Her eyes began to water and she looked away like she was embarrassed.

"A touchy subject?" Rusl asked.

"Yes." She said.

"Is it because you are ashamed of crying? Is that why you won't talk about that subject?" I quizzed her.

Rusl broke in. "Link…don't be so assertive, if she doesn't want to talk about it—"

I interrupted him. "I'm telling you right now, Isabelle." I said while looking at her. "You shouldn't feel ashamed to cry."

She looked at me, feeling reassured. "I'll tell you…11 years ago when the slavery began, my parents began to not get along…my father didn't like being a slave, and neither did the rest of my family. In only 5 years, my father's sanity spiraled out of control. He would beat my mother, brother and me." Tears started to roll down her cheeks. "I didn't know why at first, but I learned later that he was going insane. He didn't want to live life anymore, and he had forgotten how to love. He killed my mother one night in a psychotic frenzy, and then turned around and tried to come after my brother and me." Rusl and I sat there in shock at the table. She continued. "When he came after my brother and me I knew that our safety was in jeopardy…" She looked down at her hands. "So I took the only dagger in our house and—" She put her face in her hands and started sobbing. "I…killed…him…"

"Oh my god…" I said breathily. Rusl didn't say a word, his mouth wide open.

She swallowed. "I knew that it had to be done; I did the right thing, but I still feel guilty…" She looked at us and then continued. "My brother and I were placed with a new slave owner after my parents died, and that's when the real hell began. Our old slave owner was named Renaldi. We lived at his house because we were required to do so. He would whip us and stab us; whatever he could do to punish us for what we did wrong." She looked over at Adam, who was silent and gloomy. "One time he was so mad at my brother that he was going to let him have it with a knife. I stepped in to protect my brother, and Renaldi said 'fine, I will spare your brother, but you will have to take the beating for him.' He proceeded to stab me in the stomach and then he locked me in a bedroom and left me to die…" Her expression turned to something that resembled relief and happiness, but it was very subtle. "I almost did die because of how much I bled but his son Pierre; the same one that I have liked came to my aid and compressed the wound." My eyes amplified from that statement. "After that he secretly helped my brother and I escape to Paris, and he hasn't talked to his father since. We're friends, but he tries not to associate with me that way in public because he doesn't want to risk Adam or me being harmed. Our current slave owners aren't nearly as cruel, but they still beat and abuse us..."

"I'm so sorry." Rusl said sadly. "That's the worst story I've ever heard."

"I'm sorry too." I said to her. "That's not a good way to live life."

She started to cry again and Rusl and Adam got up to give her a hug. I awkwardly stood there and Rusl gestured for me to come and join them in a group hug. I came over and Rusl pulled me in.

Later that day we heard more stories from other slaves, some of them similar to Isabelle's story. That evening Isabelle and her brother had to go work for their owners. Rusl and I sat in our room at the inn, but we didn't talk much. He was writing a letter to his wife Uli and I was lying down on my bed staring at the ceiling. I thought about everything Isabelle had told us. I felt bad for her…and I thought _I_ had been through a lot of crap. Rusl looked at me. "You feeling alright, Link?"

I finally took my eyes off the ceiling. "…Yeah…" I said. "Just thinking…"

He continued to write and I went out to get some dinner for the two of us. I went to the bakery and got the two of us some sandwiches. When I was on my way back to the inn I heard screaming. I ran to the sound and found out that it was coming from a house with some acreage. I came up to a window and peeked in to see Adam cleaning a bathroom. In another window I saw Isabelle trying to kill some rats while one of her owners was on top of a chair screaming her lungs out. She finally said to Isabelle "you're not doing it fast enough!" and started to hit her hard with a broom. WHAM! WHAM! She took it like it was nothing, not even twitching. I ran to the door and knocked on it, hoping that she'd come get the door and quit beating Isabelle. The woman came to the door, looking annoyed. She looked at me. "Are you here to exterminate pests? Because we have _plenty_ of them!" She let out a disgruntled shriek.

"No ma'am." I said to her, trying to come up with words while putting on a fake cheery face. "I…I'm an outdoor salesman!"

"We don't want anything…" She huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, but I have the best product on the planet!" I lied, taking out the bag of sandwiches that was big enough and long enough to look like a bag of just about anything else. "This here is a large bag of fairy dust!" I shined my _winning_ smile. "For a measly 100 rupees, you can have all of your dreams come true with this bag of fairy dust!"

"Oh really?" She said with interest.

"Yes, but on one condition." I said. "Since I'm giving it to you at a VERY cheap price for what it's worth, you have to give me your slaves. You won't need them for what this dust can do!" I boasted.

"Alright." She went inside. "Isabelle, Adam…you are being reassigned."

Isabelle and Adam came out and noticed me as the woman went away from us to grab her rupee purse. Isabelle spoke. "Link—"

I covered her mouth and whispered, "Trust me." I smiled. Adam winked and said "ok." I uncovered Isabelle's mouth and she nodded. They both began to act like they didn't know me.

The woman came out with her purse. She took out 100 rupees and pushed Isabelle and Adam out the door with me. She gave me the 100 rupees and I handed her the bag. She slammed the door shut on us and we ran. It was a good thing that we hustled too, because seconds later she screamed, "sandwiches?!"

We all ran into the inn. Isabelle mumbled to me "con artist!" I put my hand in a fist, blew on it and wiped it on my shirt like it was a jewel to show off. She looked at me. "What do we do now?"

"I didn't think that far ahead…unfortunately…" I looked down and laughed nervously.

She looked at me in despair. "WHAT!?" Adam shrugged.

"I'll figure out something." I said. "Just stay with us at the inn for tonight."

"Ok…" She said.

The three of us went to go meet Rusl in the room. He was utterly befuddled to see Isabelle and Adam. "I thought you said you were bringing dinner, not company…?"

"I'll explain later. They are staying with us for the night, if that's alright with you." I said. He nodded and I spoke again. "I'll order room service, even though it's expensive." I went down to the main office while Isabelle, Rusl and Adam waited in the room. A minute later Isabelle followed me to help carry food up to the room. When it was ready the four of us sat on the two beds in the room and ate. We had some pork and rice with broccoli.

Rusl looked at me as we ate. "Tell me what went through your head?"

"I heard screaming and went to see where it came from. I then saw Adam cleaning and Isabelle being beaten…" I looked at my plate. "I couldn't stand watching her getting hurt…especially for such a stupid reason. Her owner felt that she wasn't killing the rats fast enough that were running amok in the house. I thought that was so cruel..." Isabelle blushed and had a small smile of gratitude on her face. I continued to speak. "So I tricked their owner into buying the sandwiches and giving up her slaves. So now here they are."

"Oh." said Rusl. He nodded. "That was commendable of you, Link."

"Thank you, Link." Isabelle said. "Adam and I owe you a lot."

"Thanks, Link." Adam said.

I beamed at them. "You're welcome." When we were finished eating it was 11pm. I grabbed some extra bedding from the front desk downstairs and laid it on the ground in the room for Isabelle and Adam to use. We all went to sleep shortly after. I woke up to the sound of coughing again that was coming from Isabelle. "Are you alright?" I whispered.

She coughed again. "I'm fine, it'll pass. Just a tickle in my throat; you've had that feeling, I assume?"

"Yeah." I said, watching her as she closed her eyes. "Goodnight." She said sleepily.

"Goodnight." I returned, laying back and falling asleep again.

**Will they be successful in stopping the evil that exists in France? Why does Isabelle cough? You'll have to read more to find out! :) I will update soon! :DDDDDD**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello! Thanks again for reading! Where we last left off Isabelle and Adam were rescued by Link from their owners, and now they are trying to figure out how to stay saved. What will happen next? :DDDDD**

**As always, please review! It makes me a better writer! :DDDD**

Chapter 9: Assistance

I woke up realizing that I slept in because Rusl, Isabelle and Adam were not asleep. Rusl was the only one in the room. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing." He said. "Isabelle and Adam went to grab us breakfast via room service from the front desk downstairs."

"Oh, okay." I said.

"I'm glad that you're up, though." He said. "I wanted to talk to you about a thought that lingered into my mind." He stopped briefly to think. "Our priority right now is to keep Isabelle and Adam safe, correct?"

"Yes." I replied.

"What are we going to do? Surely they can't go back home; they'll likely be found by their owners."

I looked at him and then at a clock on the wall. Yep, I slept in. It's 9:30am. "Maybe we could pay for them to stay in their own room at the inn?" I looked at him. "We'll be charged a significant amount on our bill, but the rates here aren't bad. That way we can keep tabs on them for their safety?"

"I think that's a good idea." He said. "Perhaps we should get their room this morning, and then have them stay at the inn while we go to their house and get some things that they need?"

"Okay." I said with a grin. "We have a plan, my friend!"

"So we do!" He laughed. Isabelle and Adam came up with breakfast a couple of minutes later. "Thanks for grabbing some food." Rusl said to them.

"You're welcome." Isabelle replied. We sat in the room and ate together. When we were finished Adam went to take the plates back to the front desk for us and Rusl went to drop off his letter to Uli at the post office.

It was a little awkward being alone with Isabelle, even if it was only for a minute or two. I didn't say anything at first, I wrote in my field journal and she was writing sheet music in a journal. She stood up and started looking out of the window. A minute later she finally spoke up. "Link?"

I looked at her. "Yeah?"

"I'm curious…um…" She paused.

I stood up and walked closer to her. "I couldn't hear very well…sorry…"

"It's okay." She turned around from the window to face me, her arms crossed like she was contemplating something. "Adam and I have some things that we need from home…how will we get them?"

"Rusl and I will go and get them for you." I smiled. "As for lodging, he and I are going to split the cost for another room here at the inn for you and Adam to stay in."

"Thanks." She smiled back at me. I had to admit, she had a pretty smile. Her smile faded. "Kind of random, but how long have you known Rusl?"

"Gosh, since I was born." I replied. "He and my dad were good friends."

"Were? Did something happen?"

"My parents both died when I was 4."

Her hand flew to her mouth in surprise. "Goodness, I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry about it." I said with a small smile. "Anyway, Rusl has always been a father figure to me. We've done everything together, so I'm glad that he was able to come with me on this mission."

"I'll bet." She said happily.

"Ok, Time for me to ask a random question." I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Okay. Shoot." She laughed.

"When did you start playing the piano?"

"I was 7 when I started playing piano. My mother used to play piano professionally. She'd play for weddings, birthdays; just about any celebration." She looked over at her sheet music and gleamed. "We used to have a piano at home. She'd sit on her piano bench and practice for her next performance and I'd sit on the rug in front of the fireplace, starry-eyed in fascination with the beautiful sounds that came out of that contraption. I begged her to teach me how to play one day and I've been playing ever since."

"Oh." I looked at her. "You're so gifted with music; I wish I had that sort of talent. My dad told me that my great-grandfather knew how to play the ocarina, but I can't do anything with music."

Her face went red and she looked down at the floor. "I'm not that great…" She looked back up at me. "Why would you want that sort of talent? You're a noble, I mean, you have money and reputation. You could do so much with your life..."

"Being a noble isn't always a barrel of roses." I said bluntly. "…You have to live up to certain 'expectations.' My girlfriend and I are watched all the time."

"Watched? That doesn't sound too great…"

"Tell me about it." I sighed. "I guess that's what you get when you date someone with a high status."

"What's her status?" She inquired.

"She's the princess of Hyrule." I said.

"Really?" She said with a start.

"Yes. Princess Zelda of Hyrule." I said casually.

"Zelda…" She echoed. "What a lovely name! I bet she's as great as her name sounds…I'd like to meet her, maybe…"

"Maybe." I said while smiling mischievously. "As long as you don't get mad at me, that is."

"Why would I get mad at you?" She questioned.

"Oh, nothing…" I laced my hands together and put them behind my head. "I might try to set you up with Pierre in attempt to embarrass you again!"

Her face reddened with spite. "You wouldn't!" I whistled to myself, which only pissed her off more. "So you're not going to talk to me?"

"Nope." I said, smiling proudly. "I'm content!" I continued to whistle until she held her fist up. My lips were still puckered from whistling when Rusl came into the room. BOOM! She punched me in the face and I fell to the ground with a loud THUMP! She briskly walked out of the room. It felt like stars were spinning around my head when Rusl tried to pick me up from my position on the ground.

Rusl was confused. "Did…did you just try to…kiss her?"

"Huh?" I said groggily, slapping myself in the face to grip reality again. I shouted, "GOD, NO!"

I tried to explain it to him, but he just shrugged and said, "I'm just not going to ask…"

Rusl and I got a room for Isabelle and Adam. They went into the room to stay while Rusl and I made our way to their house to grab some of their things. We first grabbed some of their clothes for them, and then we grabbed some of the other things that they requested. Adam wanted us to grab his wooden sword. Meanwhile Isabelle wanted us to grab a small velvet sack in her room. It was in the drawer of one of her end tables. It was a purple-colored sack. "What do you figure is in here?" I said as I held it up to show him.

"Haven't you done enough damage for one day?" He rolled his eyes.

"I was whistling!" I said. "Do we _have_ to go over this again?! I'd never even _try_ to cheat on Zelda! Especially not with the likes of…her…" I shuddered.

"Just don't meddle." He said. "Let's just deliver it to her." When we were finished grabbing their things and placing them into sacks we walked out.

I put the small mysterious velvet sack into my pocket and lagged a little behind Rusl as we walked back. Regardless of Rusl's wishes, my curiosity got to the best of me. I quietly took the sack out of my pocket and opened it to see the contents inside. Inside were two vials. One had a black liquid in it and the other had a yellow liquid in it. "Oh! So she's a witch!" I accidentally thought aloud while staring at the vials.

Rusl turned around and looked at me angrily. "Link! What did I tell you about—" He stopped speaking and stared at the vials. "May…May I see those?"

I handed him the vials and he studied them carefully. "So, are they bewitched potions?" I asked him.

He looked at me with worry. "No…they're vials of medicine…"

"Medicine?" I asked. "For what?"

"Hemoptysis…" He looked like he'd seen a ghost. "…So that's why she coughs…"

"What's hemoptysis?" I enquired with concern.

"A disease related to tuberculosis. You cough a lot, and sometimes you cough up blood." He replied.

"It's not life-threatening…is it?"

"It is…" He said. He held up the yellow liquid. "This one is used in minor attacks where the patient is either coughing a lot and/or coughing up small amount of blood." He held up the black liquid. "This one however, is used when the patient is coughing up a lot of blood and having trouble breathing."

"How do you know so much about the disease and the medicines?" I questioned.

"Uli's friend Heather had hemoptysis." He replied sadly. "It claimed her life 5 years ago."

"What causes it?"

"No one knows…all I know is that anyone who has it is not expected to live long."

"Oh…I feel like a piece of shit, now…" I looked down at the ground.

"You'd better…" He said. "You've been kind of stupid today." He sighed.

I started to feel ashamed for treating Isabelle like crap, but most of all I felt worried for her. Rusl gave me back the 2 vials and I put them into the velvet sack and into my pocket. We finished walking back to the inn in silence.

**Note: Hemoptysis is a real disease where you cough up blood, but the medicines were made up by me. Just for clarification. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, everyone! Thanks for still reading! Where we left off, Link and Rusl went to grab some of Isabelle and Adam's things out of their house. They unfortunately found out that Isabelle has hemoptysis. What will happen next? Read on! :DDDD **

Chapter 10: The News

When Rusl and I got back to the inn we knocked on the door of Isabelle and Adam's room. Adam opened the door and we set the sacks of things down in the room. Rusl looked at Isabelle, who was wearing jeans and a blouse. "You guys can't be cooped up in here forever, but I don't know what else we can do; we can't risk your owners finding you."

Adam spoke up. "They've never seen us in our cloaks, so we could use them to be in disguise while we're out and about."

"Good, that'll work." He said with respite.

I was tired of hiding the truth and acting like everything was ok, so I said to Isabelle, "why didn't you tell us you had hemoptysis?"

She looked at me with anger and said, "How do you know?"

"I looked in the velvet sack." I said as I took it out of my pocket and handed it to her. "Do you not trust us or something?"

"It's none of your business!" She hissed. "I'd appreciate it if you'd quit violating my privacy!"

"I was not violating your privacy! I was curious what was in the dumb bag!" I yelled in protest. "And to think for a second I was actually _worried_ about you!"

She looked at me in detest. "You know what? Your life may not be great according to you but like I said, you could do _so much_ with your life…" Her eyes narrowed into a mean glare. "_I_ have a death sentence! And _that's_ not a barrel of roses, either!" She stomped away.

Rusl looked at me and huffed. "You two argue over the STUPIDEST things!" He looked at Adam, who just sat there and tried to keep himself busy. He looked back at me. "You need to apologize to her."

"No." I said flatly. "I'm not apologizing until _she_ apologizes for overreacting!"

Adam broke in. "She's just frustrated…not with you; with her life. She was newly diagnosed with hemoptysis last month, but the doctors have already told her that she has only 2 more years to live." He looked down at his wooden sword lying on the ground. "She had to go the ER about two weeks ago because she couldn't breathe. Just be patient with her, she's going through a lot of turmoil…"

I looked at Adam with an earnest smile. "Ok. I'll apologize to her and try to console with her." I walked out of the room only to see her sitting down on the ground in the hall, her knees up close to her chest with her arms locked around them and her face buried in her knees. She was crying quietly and I sat down next to her. "…I've been a real jerk…I'm sorry…"

She looked up at me and wiped her tears with the back of her thumbs. "I'm sorry about overreacting…" She looked at the opposite wall of the hallway. "Whenever I think about this disease and the thought of leaving my brother all alone in this big, empty world, I feel like crying…"

I put my hand on her shoulder. "I understand." I said while standing up. "…Just…"

"What?" She asked with a sniffle as she stood up.

I faced her. "…Please tell me if you need anything…I really am worried for you…" I admitted.

"I will." She said as she gave me a hug. I went bright red. "Thank you…" She muffled in my shoulder. She stopped hugging me and looked to the side in embarrassment. "I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable…that was totally a friendly hug…" she blushed.

"I know." I said while still blushing. "I just didn't expect it, I guess..."

We both walked back into the room to meet back up with Rusl and Adam. Rusl spoke up. "Did you two kiss up?"

I was embarrassed. "No!" I shouted, and then covered my mouth.

"It's a figure of speech, Link!" He laughed.

I looked at the wall so I didn't have to make eye contact with anyone. "I knew that…really, I did…"

We all laughed it off together.

A few days later a letter came in the mail for me from Zelda. My heart pounded out of my chest as I started to read it from inside my room at the inn:

_Dear Link,_

_I love hearing from you! I'm glad that you and Rusl made it to France safely. I completely understand, and I'm sorry that such a situation is going on over there. It sounds terrible. You never fail to have a kind and loving heart, and that's part of what makes me crazy about you! I want you to hold me; I feel alone and sad, but I know that you are taking care of important matters. I can wait, I will be alright. I do have an idea for what you and Rusl can do. You should be able to communicate with the king of France more easily if a representative of royal blood comes to your aid. I have gotten my father's permission to go to France, as long as I'm escorted by a couple of guards. I'm so excited! I just finished my packing before writing this letter to you, and by the time you get it I'll be only a day away! I'm so anxious to see you, and I'd like to meet some of the people you are helping! You are the light of my life and I'm excited to be in your arms once again, and at the place I've always wanted to visit! Two of my favorite things! Be safe, I'll be there soon!_

_Love, _

_Zelda_

Words can't fathom how excited I am for her to come tomorrow! I put the letter in one of my bags and went to take a shower. When I finished getting dressed I sat down to write in my field journal. It's crazy to think that Rusl and I have been here just a little over a week already…Suddenly there was a knock at my door. I opened the door and saw Isabelle standing in the doorway. "Rusl and Adam and I have an idea for speaking to the king of France."

"Okay." I said. She gestured for me to follow her. She and I went into her hotel room to find Rusl and Adam and some plates with sandwiches on them. We all sat down for lunch. Rusl looked at Isabelle. "Should I tell him? Or do you want to tell him? Or…?" He looked like he didn't know what to do.

"I'll tell him." Adam said.

"I'll go get us some tea from the front desk to go with lunch." Isabelle said as she walked out of the room. I thought that was a little strange of her, but ok…

"Rusl talked to one of the palace guards today. He said that they are having a ball tonight. We could all crash the party; that's what we thought of doing at first, and demand to speak to him, but that would make a scene." Adam said.

"Why wouldn't we want to make a scene?" I questioned, taking a bite.

"Because it's a very formal ball." Rusl replied while chewing on his food. "It's called Le Bal de Paires."

I swallowed. "We could still do that, there's 4 of us. Adam and Isabelle can go together, and then you and I." I said.

"That wouldn't work." He said. "First off for every pair, the rules require that they be either a noble, knight, or an individual of royal blood. Each person going to the ball must be over 15 years of age—"

"Crap!" I grunted. "Well…you and I can go." I replied, taking another bite and chewing it slowly to savor it.

"That wouldn't work, either." He said while shaking his head. "The final rule is that every man must be with a lady. In France pairs implies couples, like 99.9% of the time. Since I'm married and because of the extreme age difference, I feel that it's best if _you and Isabelle_ go."

I spat out the bite of my sandwich onto my plate. "That's not fair!" I yelled. "We aren't dating, it'll be awkward, and I _just_ got a letter from Zelda! She's coming to France _tomorrow_! I'm NOT going to cheat on her!" I gritted my teeth and looked at the two of them angrily.

"It was my idea." Rusl said. "So blame me, not Isabelle or Adam."

I glared at him. "Figures! You and your horoscopes! You just want to see us date, don't you?!"

"No, Link." Rusl defended himself. "I just thought that it was the best op—"

"LIAR!" I screamed. "You're lying right to my face!"

Isabelle walked into the room with the tea. She set it down on the table while looking at me with worry. "Are you upset, Link?"

I walked over to her and pulled her towards me and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. She flailed her arms up and down before I let go of her and I shouted, "DOESN'T COUNT! I FELT _NOTHING_! COUNT ME _OUT_!" I stormed out of the room.

"What's wrong with Link?" Isabelle said her eyes wide open and stunned.

"I'm not sure…" Rusl sighed. "I don't think he likes the plan, though."

"Did he know that he didn't have to kiss me?" Isabelle enquired.

"I thought he knew that but after what he just did, I'm not sure…" Rusl put his forehead in his hand and shook his head.

"Why did Link—" Adam started, pointing at Isabelle.

Isabelle looked at him. "I don't know…" She looked at the still open door.

I went into my room and plopped onto my bed and crossed my arms. I thought back to how I reacted, as stupid as it was…I was trying to prove a point! Rusl was _obviously_ trying to get us together, and I don't want to get together with Isabelle! I put my finger to my tingling lips. "If I _didn't_ feel anything, then why is my heart beating so fast?" I whispered. I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head as I put my hat over my eyes to block out the sunlight and laid down to rest.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, folks! Thanks again for reading! Where we last left off, Rusl, Isabelle and Adam told Link about their idea to have him and Isabelle go to "Le Bal de Paires" and talk to King Dubois. Link thought that Rusl was playing matchmaker, so he acted very strange and kissed Isabelle to "prove" that they were not a good match for each other. Awkward...well, what's going to happen next?**

**Note: Yes, I do realize this chapter is LONG, but it's because there was a lot of stuff to fit into this chapter. :DDDDD ENJOY! And please review! :)**

Chapter 11: The Ball

After about 30 minutes of trying in vain to sleep, I looked at the clock and noticed that it was 2:00pm. I got up and went to go talk to Rusl. I went into the other hotel room only to find him and Adam in it. "Where's Isabelle?"

"Why do you want to know, so you can kiss her again? I didn't know you were such a two-timer!" Rusl laughed meanly.

"No!" I shouted as the redness began to show on my cheeks. "I was trying to prove a point to you, Rusl. I was trying to prove to you that it would be too awkward, as I do not know Isabelle very well, and I care for Zelda very much." Adam didn't say a word. "Well, do you guys know where she is? I'm just curious."

"She started to cough after you left and had to take the last dose she had of one of her medications, so she had to put on her cloak and go out to get a refill." Adam replied, looking down.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking at Adam.

"I…it's nothing." He said, looking deep in thought.

"Okay." I said. I went to sit down with Rusl.

"…Why don't you just go to the stupid ball?" Adam looked at me.

"What?!" I said feeling thrown off-balance.

"You already kissed her." Adam replied absolutely. "It won't be a big deal, it's not like it's going to mean that you're going to date her. You're the one who made it awkward…"

"We were just going to have you two _pretend_ that you were a couple in order to crash the party discreetly." Rusl said. "It would have looked more convincing if you two went together. You would have shown the king your badge, identifying yourself as a knight. Then you could have told him that you know the truth and that he will be arrested and/or forced to resign his crown and title if he didn't stop his actions. It would have been perfect. And Zelda coming in tomorrow would have made it even more convincing." He looked at me sternly. "You were so convinced that I was trying to set you up with Isabelle that your ego sank in and you tried to prove a point to us. Well the joke's on you, because that was never our intention, and now you just kissed a girl you never meant to kiss."

I slapped myself in the face. "I should have listened."

"Well?" said Adam. "Are you going to do it?"

"I…I'll do it." I said. "But only so we can talk to the king and get him to stop this shit."

"Good." Adam said with a smile.

"I will notify Isabelle." Rusl said. "We had made plans for her to meet up with one of her friends to go shopping for tonight."

"Shopping?" I asked.

"She is poor; doesn't have a ball gown." He answered.

"Right…" I said.

"Don't worry; you get to go shopping too." Rusl said with a snicker. "We have to find you a nice outfit fit for a noble!"

"Oh my god…" I slapped myself as they laughed. "I don't like shopping…"

Isabelle came back into the inn and came up to the room. When she saw me she didn't say anything to me. She looked at Rusl and Adam. "Hello." She smiled.

"Hello." Rusl said.

"Hi." Adam said.

"We're still going along with the plan." Rusl said to her.

"How?" She asked.

"I agreed to go." I said, shuffling my feet nervously.

"Okay." She said. She looked at Rusl. "How am I going to—?"

"Link and I will split the cost." Rusl replied. "If that's alright with him, that is…"

"That's fine." I said plainly. We both took out 2000 rupees from our wallets and handed her the money to spend on a gown.

"That should be plenty." Rusl said to Isabelle. "If there are any troubles, let us know."

"Thank you both." She smiled. "I appreciate it very much. We nodded and she left to go meet with a friend.

**Isabelle's POV**

I walked down the streets in my cloak. I would find Analielle and go shopping for a gown. I couldn't believe I was going to do this! Especially after Link awkwardly kissed me…I mean, he's dating a princess and he kisses a poor girl like me? None of that makes sense! Okay, enough ranting, Isabelle! He is a weird foreigner…you cannot change that! "C'est la vie." I muttered to myself. I knew that this afternoon would be a perfect time to spend some time with Analielle because she had the day off from her owners today. I saw her walking out of her house and shouted her name.

She turned around from walking in the opposite direction and ran to me. "Isabelle!" She gave me a hug. "C'est un plaisir de vous voir! (It's a pleasure to see you!)"

"C'est un plaisir de vous voir, aussi! (It's a pleasure to see you, too!)" I stopped hugging her. "Je me demandais si vous voulez faire du shopping avec moi? (I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping with me?)"

She nodded happily. "Oui! Sonne comme fun! (Yes! Sounds like fun!)" She and I walked around town for a little while when she noticed an expensive boutique that sold ball gowns. "Regardez, c'est le riche snobs!" She spat at the ground in disgust. "Il ne faut pas aller là-bas, _nous_ ne pouvons pas le permettre de toute façon! (Look, it's the rich snobs store! Let's not go in there, _we_ can't afford it anyway!)"

"En fait Analielle, c'est là que je voulais aller. (Actually, Analielle, that's where I wanted to go.)"

She looked at me like I was crazy. "Fille, avez-vous perdu votre esprit? Depuis quand avez-vous acquis un tas de roupies? (Girl, have you lost your mind? Since when have you acquired a bunch of rupees?)" I held out my rupee bag and had her look. When she saw the amount of rupees I had, she was flabbergasted. "Vous avez 4.000 roupies?! (You have 4,000 rupees?!)" I nodded. She looked at me. "Comment? Y at-il un homme riche qui est frappé sur vous? (How? Is there a rich man that's smitten on you?)"

I slapped myself in the face. "Pourquoi vous pensez toujours qu'il a à faire avec les hommes m'aimer? (Why do you always think it has to do with men liking me?)"

"Je le savais!" She giggled happily. "Je vous ai toujours dit que tu es belle et un homme verrez qu'un jour et vous balayer outre de vos pieds! Maintenant, ne me croyez pas? Qui est le beau mec? (I knew it! I always told you that you're beautiful and a man will see that someday and sweep you off your feet! Now do you believe me? Who's the handsome guy?)" She nudged my shoulder.

I blushed madly and took a deep breath. "Croyez-moi que ce n'est pas le cas. (Trust me that is not the case.)"

After making her swear to secrecy, I proceeded to tell her what had been happening in my life. Everything that is, except for that stupid ego-fueled, crap-tastic kiss! That would have opened a huge can of worms with Analielle! Despite trying to hide that questionable fact, she still interrogated me… "Qu'est-ce que ce gars-là Lien pensent de vous? (What does this Link guy think of you?)"

"Rien. Il est datant quelqu'un d'autre. Une princesse." I said with my mouth twitching. "Alors ferme ta gueule! (Nothing. He is dating someone else. A princess. So shut your mouth!)"

"Ne soyez pas tellement sur la défensive!" She giggled. "Donc, vous faites semblant d'aller à une date avec lui pour renverser le roi Dubois? (Don't get so defensive! So you are pretending to go on a date with him to overthrow King Dubois?)"

"Oui. (Yes.)" I said.

"Okay." She said in a thick French accent. "Allons vous trouver une robe de bal! (Let's go find you a ball gown!)"

We went into the store and tried on a lot of ball gowns. They were too big, too small, or just way too over the top for me. That is, until we tried on the last one! Figures! It fit perfectly! Now hopefully I'll look like I fit in with those rich crazy people…When we paid for the dress she took me to her house and did my hair and make-up. She straightened my hair with two hot irons that were heated using the fireplace. My hair was parted in the center, and she braided my hair all the way from the forehead to the back and put the excess in an elegant bun. I admired the finished look in the mirror. I hesitated as she put on the foundation of the make-up. "Ce n'est pas vraiment nécessaire...(This isn't really necessary…)" I sighed.

"Allons donc! (Nonsense!)" She said as she put a brush into some pink powder and sweeped it on my cheeks. I sneezed. "Que Dieu vous bénisse! (Bless you!)" She chuckled. She put nude-colorred eye shadow over my entire eyelid and a brown eye shadow over the crease. When she finished my make-up the nude and brown colors were very light on my eyes, not overpowering. She had me look in a mirror and I put my hand to my mouth in surprise. "Vous avez l'air très agréable! (You look lovely!)" She gleamed at me. I looked at the clock and realized that it was 4:30. I gulped. I'm supposed to meet Link at the gate at 5:00…I got up and asked her to help me put on the dress. "Attendez une minute! (Wait a minute!)" She came over to me and put a light pink lip-gloss on my lips. She helped me put on the dress and had me stand in front of the floor-length mirror. I looked at my hair and make-up, and then finally at my floor-length ball gown. It was strapless, poofy, white, and was adorned with enough blue sparkles to fill a craft room! (Girly factor! :) The dress also had a dark blue sash at my waist tied in a big bow in the back. I wore dark blue gloves to match that went almost up to my elbows. Analielle grabbed a blue flower out of a vase, trimmed it, and put it in my hair. "Terminé! (Finished!)" She smiled smugly. "Vous êtes mademoiselle Isabelle, la beauté en blanc et bleu! (You are mademoiselle Isabelle, the beauty in white and blue!)"

I grinned as I slipped on my blue dress shoes. "Merci, Analielle. (Thanks, Analielle.)" I put on my cloak and grabbed my satchel; which had my medication in it just in case, and tried to walk out the door. She stopped me and took my satchel. "Vous devriez être bien. Par ailleurs, la dame d'un noble ne porte pas un cartable pas cher. Vous pouvez porter votre manteau pour la sécurité, mais vraiment? Ne prenez pas votre sacoche. (You should be fine. Besides, the lady of a noble doesn't carry a cheap satchel. You can wear your cloak for safety, but really? Don't take your satchel.)" I didn't argue with her. I left my satchel with her and left. She's right, I shouldn't have an issue. It's only a couple of hours. I came up to the gate that guarded the castle a few minutes later and saw Link. He was wearing a very fancy brown tunic with white stockings, shiny black boots, and a shiny black belt to match. This tunic was definitely different. It was much more expensive, and I don't think he'd really use it as a swordsman. He didn't wear a hat, and looked quite admirable. I blushed but he didn't see due to my cloak.

**Link's POV**

"Well," I said in my head as I saw Isabelle walking over in her cloak. "Get ready for one of the more awkward moments of your life…" I sighed and said hello.

"Hello." She replied.

We walked a distance from one another, not saying a word. I saw some other nobles with their ladies waiting in a long line at the door. GREAT! A lot of them were kissing or holding hands which made my skin crawl. I then noticed that Isabelle was the only one still wearing a cloak or jacket. "I can take your cloak for you." I said while blushing. She looked at me, but I could barely see her face. She nodded as she looked down at the ground. "I'm not doing it to be chivalrous; you just look funny as the only one still wearing a cloak."

"I didn't think you were trying to be chivalrous, I knew you were just trying to be kind." She whispered.

I blushed again. "Okay, just so we're clear."

"As crystal." She replied, looking in front of her. She put down her hood to reveal her hair in an elegant braided bun and undid the buttons on her cloak. I saw her beautiful floor-length dress and stood there with my mouth wide open. She looked at me with mystification. "Are you trying to catch flies?" I closed my mouth silently and she giggled. I took her cloak from her gloved hands and wrapped it around my arm to hold it. We waited in line for only about 10 minutes, and then each pair in front of us started holding hands and walking in. I looked behind me at the pairs holding hands behind us. I stood there trying to delay the inevitable for as long as I could as we advanced up the line. As we got inside into a main hall, where the line was still inching forward, I began to hear a man announce the pairings one by one. I tossed Isabelle's cloak to the left side of the hall to grab later and grabbed my knight's badge out of my pocket in mimicry of the men in front of me, but I still tried not to hold her hand. She didn't look at me. She just waited patiently.

The man directly behind us finally started speaking French to Isabelle. "Pourquoi est votre date de ne pas tenir votre main? (Why is your date not holding your hand?)"

"Il est timide. (He's shy.)" Isabelle answered while turning around.

"Sait-il que c'est la coutume? (Does he know that it's the custom?)" The woman accompanying the man questioned.

"O-oui." Isabelle said nervously. She whispered in my ear. "It's custom to hold hands when being announced, that's why they're all doing it. We do have to look like we're dating…" she sighed.

My hands were tremulous as I grabbed her right hand with my left. The man and woman behind us talked inaudibly in each other's ears. The heat rose to my cheeks and showed brilliantly as I held her hand and waited. Thankfully we were at the front of the line about a minute later. I handed the announcer my badge. "Your lady?" He asked, seeing from my badge that I spoke English.

"Isabelle." I said with a gulp.

He handed back the badge and bellowed, "Sir Link and Miss Isabelle" loud enough that all in the ballroom could hear as we walked down the steps hand in hand as we had watched those before us do. When we got to the bottom I saw that the people were dancing. In order to look natural I took Isabelle to the dance floor and we started to waltz. The piano began to play and a beautiful smile came upon Isabelle's face. "I know this song!" She exclaimed.

"You do?" I asked her.

"Yes. It's in a piano songbook that I have back at home." She replied. She stopped dancing with me. "Your tempo's too slow and robotic, though. Listen."

I listened and realized I was off beat. "You're right."

She put one of my hands on her waist and the other in her hand and led the waltz. "This song is meant to be like a fluid motion." She said matter-of-factly.

We danced for a couple of minutes, and then I spoke to her. "T-the man is supposed to lead." I said shyly as the song ended.

She stopped. "Sorry…I got lost in the song. My mom used to play it all the time…" She looked down, looking like she thought she did something wrong.

"I-it's okay!" I said as she looked at me with those angel eyes of hers. I reddened. "You didn't do anything wrong." I put my hand on her arm to reassure her.

She smiled in relief. "Okay. I just didn't want to blow our cover." She whispered.

"You didn't." I said, realizing that my hand was still awkwardly on her arm. I removed my hand. "I-I'm…sorry…"

"For what?"

"You know…umm…" I rubbed the back of my neck. "My hand was still on your arm…"

"Oh, I didn't notice." She said with a smile. "No worries!" She looked around at the people in the room and inquired to me, "Should we go speak to Dubois?"

"Yeah." I said as we held hands to look natural; everyone was doing it still, and walked around the room to find King Dubois.

Isabelle cleared her throat once and then a couple more times. She gently rubbed the front of her neck in worry and finally let go of my hand. "I have to go." She said as she began to walk away from me.

I started to reach for her hand. "Wait…why?"

She shook her head, "I have to leave" and began to run.

I started to run after her. People gasped as her leaving made a bit of a scene. I chased her down the hall. She grabbed her cloak and continued to dash out the door. She kept running but didn't put her cloak on. I sped up and got closer to her, but she sped up and tried to get away from me again. "Why is she running from me?" I thought to myself. I saw from a distance that she was putting her cloak up to her mouth. She fell on her knees and I came up to her. She was coughing violently, and I now knew why she ran. "Isabelle? Are you alright?" I asked, putting my hand on her back and kneeling down next to her. She looked at me and removed the cloak from her face to speak, but blood was trickling from her lips. "Oh my god!" I shouted. She continued to cough and more blood came out of her mouth. Her hands fell limp and I held the cloak up to her mouth to not only catch the blood, but to keep her from falling over. She lost consciousness and I panicked. I picked her up to take her to the inn in hopes to find her medication.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, folks! Thanks for reading! Where we last left off Link and Isabelle went on their "Date that wasn't a Date" and Isabelle started to cough up blood due to her hemoptysis. What'll happen next? Read on!**

Chapter 12: Getting Isabelle's Medication

A few minutes later I came up to the inn. It was about 8:00pm now. I opened the door to the inn and carried her inside with the cloak on top of her. She was still limp, but breathing. The woman at the front desk was shocked. "What happened?" She asked me, recognizing me and speaking English to accommodate and communicate with me.

"I can't explain. She is breathing, but she needs her medication in the room." I said. She looked worried.

I ran upstairs to the room where Rusl and Adam were in. The door was shut so I tried to knock while still having a hold of her, not being very successful, but Rusl opened the door. A look of terror came on his face. "Is she breathing?"

"Yes." I said with a sigh. He helped me bring her in. "She started to cough but she was without her medication, so she began to cough up blood."

"We've got to have her take her medication, quick!" He started to look around. "Where is it?!" He dug through a bunch of bags as fast as he could as I laid Isabelle on a bed and put the cloak aside. With concern in my eyes I searched through the bags with him.

Rusl finally spoke up. "She took her satchel to Analielle's, right?"

"Yes." I said. "But she didn't have it when she came to meet me."

"Damn it! Someone's going to have to run to Analielle's and grab Isabelle's satchel; I'm sure her medications are in it!" He shouted and looked at me.

"I'll go!" I said.

Adam spoke hastily. "Analielle lives a little ways past the bakery. Go down 2 blocks from there, turn a right onto one of the side streets, and then go down 6 houses and you'll find hers."

"Alright." I said, running out the door.

(Narrator's note: As Link was headed to Analielle's house, Rusl and Adam tended to Isabelle.)

After a couple of minutes of watching over Isabelle, Adam spoke up. "I just remembered. Analielle doesn't know any English except for 'okay.'"

"Crap." Rusl slapped his face. "I will watch after Isabelle." Adam nodded and ran out the door. "Why couldn't Link at least attempt to learn French?" He said to himself as he checked Isabelle's pulse for irregularities.

(Narrator's Note: Back to Link! Don't worry, the phrases spoken by Analielle will be translated, but Link will not know that. :) I ran up to the 2nd block and turned right. After I went down 6 houses I knocked on the next door. A woman about Isabelle's age came to the door. She looked shocked to see me; as fancy as I was dressed. "Qui dans le monde êtes-vous? (Who in the world are you?)"

"Are you Analielle?" I asked, not understanding a word that she was saying, but hoping that she'd start to speak English to me.

She looked puzzled. "Oui, comment voulez-vous me faire savoir? Qu'est-ce que vous avez besoin? (Yes, how do you know me? What do you need?)"

I stamped my foot in frustration and pointed at her house. "I can't explain; I need in!"

"Je ne vais pas vous laisser entrer. Je ne vous connais pas. (I am not going to let you inside. I don't know you.)"

"I need to grab a satchel for a friend!" I shouted, trying to push my way in.

She stopped me in my tracks. "Pourquoi êtes-vous si l'avant? Je pense que tu es beau, mais je ne pense pas que je devrais vous permettent Est-il po que tu m'aimes et que vous voulez que je sois dans une relation avec vous? Si c'est le cas je dirais que oui! (Why are you being so forward? I think you're handsome, but I don't think that I should let you in. Is it that you like me and want me to be in a relationship with you? If so I'd say yes!)"

I looked at her with confusion, and then pointed inside. She let me in. "Where is Isabelle's satchel?"

"Isabelle? Je pensais que vous étiez ici pour me voir, mais vous préférez parler à son sujet?! Pourquoi? Je ne suis pas aussi bon que son?! Je ne savais pas que vous tous, hommes seraient tellement obsédé par elle! (Isabelle? I thought you were here to see me; but you would rather talk about her?! Why? Am I not as good as her?! I didn't know that all of you men would be so obsessed with her!)"

I moaned. "Please. I don't understand a word you're saying, but Isabelle needs my help! I need to get her medication to her now!"

Adam ran up to Analielle's house and got ready to knock on the door. He saw me looking for the satchel.

"Tes yeux sont si rêveur!" Analielle sighed. Adam listened in. "J'ai juste pensé que je vous le dire. Tes yeux sont si rêveur! J'ai juste pensé que je vous le dire. Mais Isabelle cela, et Isabelle qui, l'aimes-tu? Si oui, alors vous feriez mieux d'aller vers elle et me laisser tranquille! (Your eyes are so dreamy! I just thought I'd tell you that. But Isabelle this, and Isabelle that, do you love her? If so then you'd better go to her and leave me alone!)"

I thought hard about what she just said, not knowing a lick of it. I finally resolved to use the only word I do know. "Oui. To everything you just said. Oui." I calmly responded.

Adam spoke up. "Analielle ce n'est Link. Il ne sait pas le français. Il est le noble qui est connaissance avec Isabelle. Isabelle est en difficulté et a besoin de sa sacoche Lien. (Analielle this is Link. He does not know French. He is the noble that is acquaintances with Isabelle. Isabelle is in trouble and Link needs her satchel.)"

"Oh!" She gasped. "Je suis désolé. Il est sur ma commode dans ma chambre. (I'm sorry. It is on my dresser in my room.)"

Adam ran in and grabbed the satchel. He and I ran back to the inn to give Isabelle her medication. Adam and I came into the room and saw a doctor in the room with Rusl and Isabelle. The doctor had some sort of contraption with an air-filled pouch over her mouth. The doctor kept on squishing the pouch to get air into her lungs.

Rusl looked at us as we came in. "Her pulse was very irregular, so I got a doctor to come in."

"Oh." I said, handing him the medication.

"Good." He said. He handed the doctor the medication and the doctor tried to wake Isabelle up so she could drink it.

Her eyes slowly opened and the doctor removed the contraption from her mouth. She took in a quick breath as if surprised and sat up looking at us. She looked down and realized that she was still in her dress. "How…how did I get home?"

"I carried you." I said while looking at her. "You were completely unconscious."

"Oh." She said, looking at the blankets over her. The doctor had her take her medication, and then she spoke to me again. "Where is my cloak?"

"Over there." I pointed to the cloak's location in a corner of the room.

"It's…bloody isn't it?" She questioned as her eyes went askance to her right.

"Yes." I answered.

"I'm…sorry that you had to see all of that." She sighed. "That's why I ran; I didn't want you to see it."

"I've seen lots of blood before." I said. "Don't worry about it."

She looked at the doctor who began to speak to her in French. "Est-il votre ami? (Is he your boyfriend?)"

Rusl's mouth flew open, but he didn't translate for me. "What?" I asked. "What did he say?"

"Non, il est mon ami. (No, he's my friend.)" She told him.

"Oh. Je suis désolé pour ce commentaire. Il semble se soucient vraiment de vous. (Oh. I'm sorry about that comment. He seems to really care about you.)" He smiled.

"Je suppose. (I suppose.)" She blushed.

He looked at her and winked. "Je me le procurer. (I get it.)"

I still had no clue what was going on. That strange doctor could have asked her out for all I know! I looked back at Rusl and he just shrugged.

The doctor spoke to Rusl for a while and gave Isabelle some sleep medicine so she could rest, and then he left. Isabelle fell asleep almost instantly and Rusl tucked her in. Rusl looked at me. "The doctor said that one of us has to watch Isabelle tonight. Since she had an attack she needs to be watched for her safety. It should probably be either you or me because I don't know how well he'll be able to act under pressure if she struggles to breathe."

I nodded and observed how exhausted Rusl looked. "I'll watch her." I said.

"Alright." He said, grabbing one of the pouch contraptions that the doctor left for us. "If she struggles to breathe or coughs up blood, use this until her pulse is more regular and then give the black liquid medication to her."

"I understand." I said.

"Goodnight." Adam said.

"Goodnight." Rusl said.

"Goodnight." I said to them. They both walked out of the room Isabelle and I was in and went to the other room. I closed the door to the room and after seeing that the time was 10pm I sat in a chair near Isabelle's bed and began to write in my field journal in the dim light of the lantern.

Every couple of minutes I'd look over at her to make sure she was okay. About an hour and a half later she stirred and let out a groan. I watched her as she grabbed some of her blanket in her hands and nuzzled her face in it. "…Maman…(…Momma…)" She muffled into the blankets. I chuckled softly as she removed the blanket from her mouth and a childish smile came on her face, but I knew she was still fast asleep. I watched her settle back into a deep sleep and then grabbed a book to read. I was engrossed in reading my book and didn't notice her waking up another hour later. She fluttered her eyes open. "…Link…?"

I looked up with a start and saw that she was awake. "Hi Isabelle." I smiled.

"W-where are Rusl and Adam?"

"They're in the other room." I told her. "The doctor said that someone needed to watch you tonight. Rusl was really tired so I volunteered to watch you."

She looked at me with gratitude. "Thank you…" She looked down at her blanket. "…Are you tired?"

"I'm ok." I said with a grin. "You should try to get some sleep, though."

"I will." She grinned back. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I returned. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath but seemed to almost choke on it. I put the book down and went over to her as she began to cough. "Are you alright?" She shook her head as the coughing began to get more violent. I grabbed a towel for her to cough into. Sure enough blood started to flow out of her mouth and stain the white towel. A couple of minutes later the flow of blood wasn't as steady, so I grabbed the air pouch as she started to wheeze. The nozzle was huge, so I said to her, "open your mouth a little more please." She opened her mouth a little bit more and I gently placed the nozzle into her mouth and started to pump air into her lungs. After 5 minutes of alternating between pumping some air into her mouth and covering her mouth with the blood-stained towel I put two fingers against her neck to check her pulse. It was normal. I grabbed the black vial and instructed her to open her mouth again and poured the liquid into her mouth. She closed her mouth and swallowed it. "You scared me there." I heaved a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry." She said while frowning.

"You don't need to be sorry about it." I said in sympathy. "You don't have control over the coughing."

"I still feel like I'm troubling you…" She looked sad.

"You're not troubling me, Isabelle." I reassured her. "That's what friends do; they help each other."

She beamed. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." I said. I stood back up to continue to read in my book, but I turned around and knelt back down next to her. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

"I'm not used to people doing things for me…" She looked at me with the sweetest smile. "…but I'd like some water please."

"I'll get you some." I said as I went to the bathroom and grabbed a cup to fill with water. I gave her the cup and she sat up to take a sip from it. I took the cup from her and set it on the end table. I turned down the light on the lantern so she could fall asleep more easily and sat back down in the chair to read.

"Thanks, Link." She said while she closed her eyes. "Goodnight…"

"You're welcome. Sleep well." I smiled as she fell asleep again. I picked up my book and continued to read.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello folks! Thanks again for reading! Where we last left off, Isabelle had a hemoptysis-related episode and Link and Adam went to get her medications for her. According to doctor's orders Isabelle had to be watched that night in case of another attack of coughing. Link volunteered to watch her and sure enough, she did have another attack, so thank goodness Link was there to tend to her. Link is looking forward to Zelda coming to France, but will there be complications? Of course there has to be! What are they? Read on to find out! :DDDDDD**

Chapter 13: Zelda Arrives

**Isabelle's POV**

I woke up at dawn, seeing the gentle morning sunlight trying to peer in through the curtains. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes, looking over to where Link was sitting to see if he was still there. He was a sight to see! The book he was reading was open in his lap, but his head was against the back of the chair, obviously fast asleep that he was! I smiled at the comical sight and got out of bed. I took a blanket and put it on him and went to the bathroom to change my clothes. I hung up the ball gown and put it into a closet. How I loved that dress! It's the nicest thing I've ever had. I put on one of my usual plain sundresses that my friends have made for me over the years. I looked at myself in the mirror as I brushed my hair and it settled itself into its naturally wavy look. I walked out of the bathroom when I finished getting ready and saw that Link was still asleep. I went back to the bathroom and got a drink of water. I then went over to the room where Rusl and Adam were and knocked on the door. Rusl answered the door. "You're up." He smiled. "Good. Is Link asleep?"

I nodded with a giggle. "Fast asleep in the chair, he didn't even bother to sleep in the other bed."

"That must have been a sight to see!" He chuckled, letting me into the room to talk with him and Adam, who was also up.

"It was." I said.

"Did you have another attack last night?"

"Yes." I looked down at the floor.

"I probably shouldn't have asked that." He said with a frown. "I don't want to make you upset."

"It's okay." I said to him. "I just…I feel like I bothered Link."

He looked at me with peculiarity. "I know Link very well, and I know something like that would not have bothered him."

I didn't pay a lot of attention to what Rusl said; my head moving down to look at the floor in shame. I kept on thinking about everything Link had to do to assist me and keep me alive last night. I felt helpless and rude. Why did he care? No one has ever cared for me like that except for my family and Pierre…

"Isabelle? Is everything alright?" He looked at me with concern.

I snapped out of it, jerking my head up to face him. "Y-yeah."

"Deep in thought?" He questioned.

"Yes." I replied, red with embarrassment.

Adam looked at me. "You alright?"

"Huh?" I looked at him and smiled. "Yes."

The three of us waited in the other room for Link to wake up.

**Link's POV**

I woke up and looked over at Isabelle's bed to make sure she was okay. She wasn't there…she must be up. I looked at the clock and saw that it was 7am. I got out of bed and took a shower and got dressed with great speed. I swear my heart skipped a beat; I mean Zelda is coming today! I am so exicted! After I was finished getting dressed I went over to the other room where Rusl and Adam were. Both of them and Isabelle were in there conversing together. I walked in. "Hi everyone." I said with a yawn.

"Hi." Rusl and Adam said.

"Hello." Isabelle smiled.

I turned towards Isabelle. "How are you feeling this morning?"

She grinned. "Very good thanks to your help."

"Good." I reacted.

"Are you excited for Zelda to come?" Rusl asked me.

I blushed. "Yes. Very excited."

"Oh! I didn't know that Zelda was coming?" Isabelle said happily. "That's great! I hope I can meet her!"

"Of course you can!" I beamed. "She should be here anytime."

A few minutes later a man that worked for the inn came knocking at our door. I went over and answered. "There's someone here for a 'Sir Link.'"

"That would be me, kind sir." I said with a nod.

"There is a white carriage outside." He said as he left.

I ran into the bathroom to make sure I looked okay, and then I ran out of the room. "I'll be right back!" I shouted to Rusl, Isabelle and Adam. I ran down the stairs and out the front door to see the white carriage with Zelda standing in front of it. I ran to her, picked her up and spun her around. We shared an embrace and then a long passionate kiss. My heart pounded out of my chest as I hugged her and kissed her again.

"I missed you!" She gleamed. "I'm so excited to be here with you!"

"I missed you too, more than words could ever describe!" I kissed her on the cheek. Then I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder but it didn't come from Zelda. I turned around and saw Pierre.

"Comment osez-vous tricher sur Isabelle!" He yelled angrily.

"Huh?" I said out of confusion. "English please?"

I turned around and Zelda was tapping her foot. "I know what he said." She looked at me while forming a fist with her right hand.

"What?!" I said in surprise. "Has everyone been studying French except for me?!"

"HE said," Zelda began in a shrill voice. "'How dare you cheat on Isabelle!'" She began to grit her teeth. Boy, she's pissed! "Care to tell me who Isabelle is?!" She screamed.

"Uhhhh…" I panicked. I turned around to see if Pierre had left. Nope! He was still there and pounding one of his fists into his other hand to threaten me! "Can I explain?" I turned my head back and forth multiple times to see which one was going to pummel me first.

"Pourquoi? Savez-vous même tout ce que cette pauvre dame a été par le biais?" He frowned and shook his fist at me. "Je dois vous battre jusqu'à ce que les vaches viennent à la maison! (Why? Do you even know everything that poor lady has been through? I ought to beat you until the cows come home!)"

"I have NO CLUE what you're saying, Pierre!" I hollered, getting into his face, and then cringed away as he tried to come at me. "PLEASE SPARE ME! This is a complete misunderstanding!"

"Have you forgotten that I want to put you through a world of hurt, too?!" Zelda bellowed, her eye twitching in extreme anger.

"Trust me, Zelda! I have not dated her! I wouldn't have even dreamed of it! This guy doesn't speak English! He saw Isabelle and me at church talking with one another and only assumed!" I screamed and raised my hands up in fear.

**Isabelle's POV**

Link didn't know it, but I was too curious to stay inside of the inn, so I followed in secret and was hidden behind a bush watching the whole fiasco with Pierre and Zelda unfold. I didn't know what to do; I was hoping that Zelda would speak French to Pierre and tell him to back off.

Link still had his hands risen up in front of Zelda. "Besides…" Link huffed. "Isabelle is ugly! She is not my type! I would never want to date her, and I don't think anybody would ever want to!"

I got out of my kneeling position and sat down in the grass, wrapping my arms around my knees and pulling them in close to stay hidden and feel comfortable. "If he admits to people that I'm ugly without giving it a second thought, I must really be ugly. No wonder I've never dated..." I thought to myself. "…Well that is, except for the fake date I had with Link. Thinking about it now it's kind of pathetic; that being the only 'date' I have ever had. I have been so busy with fighting for my life and taking care of my brother that time has slipped away from me…" I watched them continue to bicker, unsure what to do. "…If only I could be brave enough to tell Pierre how I feel for him…" I looked down at my legs and scorned myself for the scars they had from the whip. "What's stopping you from telling Pierre?" I asked myself in a whisper. "It's one easy phrase…Je t'aime; why can't you tell him that?" I looked back up at the three of them, but mostly at Pierre. "It's because I'm too much of a coward; I can't tell Pierre that I love him. He doesn't love me." I finally resolved to go out there and explain the whole situation to assist Link, because in the entire 8 minutes I've been watching he has gotten nowhere. I got up and backtracked towards the inn to look natural and then came out of the bushes and walked up towards them.

"Isabelle?" Pierre noticed me.

My heart quickened its pace with the sound of his voice. "Bonjour, Pierre."

"Bonjour." He replied.

Link and Zelda turned around to face me. "Well, here's the _lady_ of the hour!" Zelda shouted and glared at me and Link.

I looked at Zelda. "I am so sorry that we have met this way, Princess Zelda. I was hoping that we could meet on better terms…" I looked down and then back at her. "Link and I have not dated. Link is not and has not cheated on you. My friend Pierre thought we were dating and assumed us to be a couple solely on the fact that Link and I were talking with one another during church. I would never want to hurt you. I have been looking forward to meeting you, and I know that Link would never want to hurt you."

She looked at me and her angry expression turned to a sweet smile. "I believe you. You seem like a very genuine girl; I'm sorry about getting so flustered…" She turned around and gave Link a hug and a quick kiss. "I'm sorry, Link…I should have trusted you more."

"Don't worry about it." Link smiled at her. He looked at me. "Thanks for helping me clear things up with Zelda."

"You're welcome." I grinned. "Now to deal with Pierre." I looked at Pierre. "Était-ce une preuve suffisante pour vous? Je n'ai jamais datée du Lien. Il est mon ami, et il est pris par cette charmante dame. Alors pouvez-vous s'il vous plaît arrêter les hypothèses? (Was that proof enough for you? I have never dated Link. He is my friend, and he is taken by this charming lady. So can you please stop the assumptions?)"

Pierre looked at me. "Oh wow ... Je suis désolé. Je me sens stupide maintenant. J'ai failli battre ce jeune homme sans raison valable. J'essayais seulement de se lever pour vous et vous protéger, Isabelle. J'espère que vous savez cela. (Oh wow...I'm sorry. I feel stupid now. I almost beat this young man for no good reason. I was only trying to stand up for you and protect you, Isabelle. I hope you know that.)"

I beamed at him. "Je sais que, et je l'apprécie. (I know that, and I appreciate it.)"

Pierre excused himself and left and Zelda and Link looked at me. "It is nice to meet you, Isabelle." Zelda said.

"It's nice to meet you too, Princess Zelda." I said.

We all went into the inn together and talked with one another for a while. I am excited to get to know her and more importantly, for something to hopefully be done about the slavery issue here with her assistance.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Thanks again for reading, folks! Where we last left off, Link was in a bit of a pickle with Zelda and Pierre. In the words of Link, it was a "complete misunderstanding!" :DDDDD What will happen next? Read on! :DDDDD**

Chapter 14: Risks

**Link's POV**

I told Zelda and the guards escorting her more about the situation in France. We had all decided to go to the royal residence and talk to King Dubois. Enough was enough; we would put an end to all of the issues. When we were finished making plans, it was 4:30 in the afternoon.

Zelda looked at me. "Why don't we go now? What's stopping us?"

"I agree." said Rusl as he looked at me.

I nodded with determination. "Let's do it. You ready to take some risks?" I looked at Isabelle and Adam as they nodded.

"I just…" Isabelle looked at me with fear. "I don't know if it'll work…what will we do then?"

"As soon as he realizes that a Princess of a different country and a knight know his secret, he won't be able to do a thing; I'll make sure of that!" I flashed a smile. "Rusl and I will keep you all safe."

She looked a little more reassured. Zelda patted her on the back. "He's not called the best swordsman in Hyrule for nothi)"ng!"

It was risky, and perhaps it was foolhardy, but I was determined to help Isabelle and Adam! Isabelle and Adam put on their cloaks and the five of us headed to the castle to "talk" to King Dubois. "It's go time!" I thought to myself. We were coming up to the gates when I saw a man who was dressed in black clothes blocking our way. He looked right at Isabelle, who had great fear in her eyes, even though she was standing next to Rusl. The man spoke up. "Vous ne pouvez pas me cacher plus, Isabelle! Vous et Adam ont été découverts! Viens avec moi et faire face à vos conséquences avec fierté! (You can't hide from me anymore, Isabelle! You and Adam have been discovered! Come with me and face your consequences with pride!)" He smiled an intimidating, wicked smile.

"It's Renaldi." Isabelle said in a soft but timid voice.

Rusl was the first to jump into a direct conversation with Renaldi. "Elle ne va pas avec vous, et n'est pas non plus Adam! Vous ne leur appartiennent pas, ils sont des êtres humains! (She's not going with you, and neither is Adam! You do not own them, they are human beings!)"

Zelda took out a badge and showed it to the man. "Je suis de descendance royale, et donc j'ai le droit de vous arrêter pour posséder des esclaves. Il est illégal et immoral, de sorte que si vous voulez entrer dans un monde de souffrance, je voudrais cesser de résister et accepter le fait que vous ne pouvez pas avoir des esclaves. (I am of royal descent, and therefore I have the right to apprehend you for owning slaves. It is illegal and immoral, so unless you want to get into a world of hurt, I would stop resisting and accept the fact that you cannot have slaves.)"

He spat at the ground. "Je n'accepte pas. Maintenant donnez-moi mes esclaves avant, je dois vous faire du mal!" He pulled a dagger out of his pocket. "Je suis plus que disposé à utiliser ce poignard pour obtenir mon chemin! (I do not accept. Now give me my slaves before I have to harm you! I am more than willing to use this dagger to get my way!)"

I grabbed Zelda's hand and pulled her behind me. I looked over at her guards. "Please keep Zelda out of harm's way!" I shouted. They nodded. I looked at Rusl. "Keep Isabelle and Adam safe. I'll take care of this _wise guy_." Rusl nodded and kept watch of Isabelle and Adam as I pulled out my sword from its sheath. I looked at the man and gritted my teeth. "So it's going to be the hard way, huh?" I said to him as if he'd understand.

"Ha! Vous n'avez pas m'intimider, épéiste monsieur! (Ha! You don't intimidate me, mister swordsman!)" He charged at me and I got ready to attack. Suddenly when he was closer to me he threw a strange little ball to the ground that exploded into a smokescreen.

I couldn't see anything, and it worried me. I began to cough from the smoke irritating my throat and lungs. My eyes squinted to see what was happening around me. No luck. I couldn't see a thing until the smoke cleared. The first thing I saw was that the man was gone. I looked over at Zelda. She was fine, completely unharmed. I looked over towards Rusl to see only him and Adam, coughing and just starting to see from the smoke clearing. Isabelle was gone! "I have to go find Isabelle!" I yelled.

Zelda looked worried for me, so I walked over to her and kissed her quickly on the lips. "Don't worry…" I said in a whisper.

"Don't do anything too rash, ok? I would like to see you still in one piece…" She said with fear in her voice.

"I won't." I replied, giving her another quick kiss and running off. I didn't know where she was, so I ran for a minute deeper into the forest and then screamed her name.

**Isabelle's POV**

I was being dragged deep into the forest. I had lost hope of being saved when he took me into a clearing and took out his dagger again. He had the dagger in one hand, and my arm tightly clutched in the other. Suddenly I heard Link scream my name. "LINK!" I screamed back. I tried screaming again, but Renaldi covered my mouth.

"Je ne sais pas comment vous avez vécu qu'un jour je vous poignardé dans l'estomac, mais je vous assure que je vais finir le travail cette fois! De réduire d'abord à vous pour mon plaisir! (I don't know how you lived that one day I stabbed you in the stomach, but I will assure you that I will finish the job this time! First to cut at you for my enjoyment!)" I let out of muffled scream as he grabbed the dagger that he had dropped on the ground, all while keeping a firm grip on my hand, and then proceeded to slice me deeply in the arm. I covered my injured arm by cupping my hand around it as best as I could and literally cried tears of agony as he tried to stab me in the stomach like he had before, but Link came up behind him as fast as lightening and put his bow around Renaldi's neck to restrain him. Link pulled Renaldi back without breaking his neck, but the movement forced Renaldi's dagger out of his hand. Link brought Renaldi to the ground and quickly grabbed out his sword, pointing it at Renaldi as he looked up at Link. "Donc, vous êtes monsieur costaud, hein? Voyons comment dur vous êtes après je tue ta copine! (So you're mister tough guy, huh? Let's see how tough you are after I kill your girlfriend!)"

Link chuckled at him and smiled boldly. "I don't know what the hell you just said, but enough chit chat…Let's cut to the chase!" His expression became more serious as he began to roar. "You are _not_ getting anywhere near her again and _I_ will make sure of that!" He tried to come towards Link, but when Link began to charge back at him he cowered and ran away. "Good riddance!" Link huffed. He kneeled down beside me. "Are you hurt, Isabelle?"

I nodded and slowly lifted my hand that was cupped around my cut. It was slightly sticky from the blood.

"Holy crap, that's a bad cut!" He exclaimed as he took off his hat. He grabbed a knife out of one of his pockets and sliced through some of the seams in his hat so it would be more like a flat cloth. "I'm going to use this to compress the wound." I nodded as he gently wrapped it around my arm. Seconds later it was seeping up blood. "I'm going to apply just a little bit of pressure." Link said as he took a hold of my arm and squeezed with one hand. I closed one of my eyes in pain and he sighed in response. "I know it hurts, I'm sorry." I didn't realize it until this point but he had his other hand in mine and was rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb, which made me blush. I knew the gesture wasn't meant to be romantic; it was to be helpful and caring. Thinking about his kindness made tears begin to well up in my eyes.

"Don't cry Isabelle!" I thought to myself.

It was no use. The waterworks started and Link looked at me with concern. I started sobbing uncontrollably and he took me in an embrace. "It's okay, Isabelle. No one is going to hurt you anymore, I promise."

I was shocked that he was hugging me like this. I felt like I actually mattered to people, for once in my life. We stopped hugging and I looked at him. "Thank you, Link."

"You're welcome." He returned.

He and I started to walk back through the forest. He kept on asking me if I needed anything and how my arm was feeling. It was sweet. Part of me wanted to show him my appreciation by kissing him on the cheek or something; as weird or impulsive as that is, but I dismissed the thought. He has a girlfriend…she's lucky to have such a kind man…I smiled as we caught up with the others and shared feelings of relief.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello again, folks! Where we last left off Isabelle and Adam's owner tried to take them back as his slaves, but Link and Rusl intervened. Isabelle ended up with a large cut wound in her arm, but she is okay! What will happen next? Read on to find out! :)**

Chapter 15: Miracles Do Happen

**Link's POV**

Isabelle's arm injury had to be properly cleaned and medicated to prevent infection before we could go to the castle. Luckily my pack on Epona's saddle has a first aid kit that I always carry. I called Epona and grabbed the kit out and Zelda helped me treat Isabelle's arm. She yelped in pain as I tried to gently rinse it with water. Zelda gingerly applied the antibiotics to her arm, but either way Isabelle was still in a lot of pain. I grabbed a bandage and wrapped it around her tender arm and discarded my destroyed hat by tossing it to the ground (no trash bins…). We proceeded on to the castle gates and I showed my badge to the guards. "I am here to see the king." I said bluntly.

"He does not wish to see anyone today." The knight replied.

"I don't care." I spat. "I'm here on official business." I looked over at Zelda. "Princess, if you'd kindly explain to these men."

Zelda pulled out a summons on a scroll. "This is a summons to the king of France. He is to be questioned immediately. No exceptions."

The knight looked at us with a lost sense of security and let us through the gate. We stormed into the castle and went into the throne room. There was Dubois, sitting on his throne with a smug grin on his face. When he saw us he was shocked. "Please leave. Why are you still in France?" He looked intimidated.

Zelda pulled out the summons. "This is from the King of Hyrule. Your secret is no longer a secret, and you are hereby ordered to give up your title and throne, or we will force you to do so. You can do this the easy way or the hard way."

She gave him the scroll to look over. After a couple of minutes he dropped the scroll out of astonishment and had an expression that implied that he may have just crapped in his pants. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" He bellowed as loud as possible.

"We know of the slavery going on in France, and it needs to stop now." I said calmly to him.

"YOU ARE MISTAKEN!" He yelled. "I HAVE NOT BEEN SUBJECTING MY PEOPLE TO SLAVERY! I LOVE ALL OF MY SUBJECTS!"

"That's a bunch of bullcrap!" Isabelle replied curtly, taking off her cloak. "You're reaping the benefits of cheating people out of decent lives! _Everyone_ knows that!" Adam followed Isabelle's example and took off his cloak too.

King Dubois looked at Isabelle, and then at me. "H-how did you learn of this false story?"

"From Isabelle and Adam." I replied with a stare.

"The only story that is false is yours, sir." Rusl said to King Dubois. "We know the truth; we have _seen_ the truth!"

King Dubois looked angrily at Isabelle. "I have always known you'd be bothersome. Running away from your owners and managing to stay hidden…I know your story!"

"Well, trouble's knocking at your door!" She said with attitude.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT?"

"I don't care about the repercussions!" Isabelle screeched. "I'm _tired_ of living my life in fear, and these people have taught me that I_ don't_ have to!" She looked at me, Zelda and Rusl. "They have taught me that I can fight for my dreams and for a better life! I will not let you strike fear into my heart! NOT ANYMORE!"

He got up from his throne and unsheathed a small sword attached to the side of his calf. "I will not go down without a fight!"

I took out my sword, Rusl took out his sword, and the two Hylian guards followed suit. "One against four." I said with a smirk. "Do you really want to do this, _King_ Dubois?"

He began to run towards the four of us and we began to fight him. It didn't take very long for us to apprehend him. The Hylian guards put him in handcuffs and took his sword. Rusl went to a couple of palace guards and demanded them to ring the large bell in the belfry of the castle to summon the townsfolk to a gathering in the marketplace. We took Dubois to a balcony to face the townspeople. We waited a minute or two for people to gather. Zelda then began to speak. "Peuple de France. Je suis la princesse Zelda d'Hyrule. J'ai appelé une réunion d'annoncer que le roi est renversé Dubois de son trône. Il a violé les droits de votre confiance et depuis trop longtemps." She took out the scroll and showed the people. "Cette défiler par la présente déclare que l'esclavage en France est d'arrêter immédiatement, et un nouveau roi est de prendre le trône immédiatement. (People of France. I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule. I have called a gathering to announce that King Dubois is hereby overthrown from his throne. He has violated your trust and rights for too long. This scroll hereby states that the slavery in France is to stop immediately, and a new king is to take the throne immediately.)"

Everyone started to cheer as the guards took the crown off of King Dubois' head. One of them hollered to the crowd, "Cette couronne sera conservé en lieu sûr jusqu'à ce qu'un nouveau roi bienveillant monte sur le trône. (This crown will be kept safe until a new, benevolent king takes the throne.)" The crowd cheered once again as the golden crown was placed on a blue pillow with gold trim. "Tu es libre maintenant, tout le monde. Toute violation de la nouvelle loi anti-esclavage sera puni avec justice et équité. (You are free now, everyone. Any violations of the new anti-slavery law will be punished fairly and justly.)"

The crowd of townspeople began to parade down the streets in merriment. The French guards took King Dubois into the castle and placed him in a cell in the dungeon. Isabelle and Adam gave Rusl, Zelda and me hugs. Isabelle was the first to speak to us as people continued dancing in the streets. "I thought I'd never live to see the day." She smiled. "Thank you so much, to all three of you. You are forever in my debt."

"Thank you so much!" Adam grinned. "We don't have to live in hell anymore."

We went back to the inn and chatted for a while. Isabelle wrote in her diary for a while after we chatted. She and Adam then went back home to their cottage, but promised that they'd be up early tomorrow morning to see us off before we leave for Hyrule. Zelda stayed in a separate room at the inn and so did the guards. I lay down in bed and closed my eyes, but I couldn't sleep. I sat up and looked at Rusl, who had turned out his light earlier than me and was already out. I turned on my light and looked around the room out of boredom. Sitting on the dresser was a small diary. "Isabelle's diary…she must have forgotten it. I'll give it to her in the morning…" I thought to myself as my head met with the pillow. "…Still can't sleep…why?" I thought again. Thoughts of curiosity ran through my head. "Maybe…no, she'd be mad if I looked at her diary. Besides; I can't read it without Rusl, I would have to wake him up if I wanted to see what she's written." I tried to close my eyes, but curiosity killed the cat. I sat back up and whispered, "Rusl…"

He moaned and faced me as he opened his eyes. "Yeah, Link?"

"Isabelle left her diary." I said innocently.

"You can give it to her in the morning." He mumbled.

"Right…but before we do…I'm curious about what else she's written."

"You know you'll get into trouble if you violate her privacy." He sat up.

"She'll never know." I said with a grin.

"If you get into trouble, which I'm sure you will, don't come crying to me." He said sleepily.

I got up out of bed and grabbed Isabelle's diary. I opened it up to the entry from yesterday that was written this morning. "Translate please, Rusl."

"You sure?"

"Yes. If you'd please." I said to him.

"Fine." He said, grabbing the diary as I sat down next to him. "Let's see…" He began to translate the diary entry:

_Dear Diary,_

_I had one of the most interesting evenings of my life last night. Rusl and Adam and I thought that it would be smart for Link and I to go to the ball being held at the royal residence. Our plan was to have Link and I crash the party and talk to the king of France about what he's done wrong and attempt to make him give up the throne. So in a sense, it was a fake date. Link wasn't up to it at first, but finally decided to go along with it. I have to admit, he looked quite dashing without his hat. I felt really bad when I had a hemoptysis attack and tried to run away. I just didn't want him to see me cough up blood. He was really kind about it, though. He took care of me and made sure I was okay. It was very sweet. He is truly a very good man, although I questioned his morale when I first met him two weeks ago..._

Rusl paused to laugh at this point. I looked at him with irritation while blushing at the words I was hearing. "It's not funny!" I whispered madly.

"Oh, but it is!" He chuckled. "Especially because of how red in the face you are!"

"I am NOT red in the face!" I lied.

"You're the one who wanted to hear her diary entry! She admires you!" He laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I growled.

"Just that she admires you. Is it bad to be admired?" He asked.

"Well…not really…" I sighed.

"Do you want me to read the rest?" He questioned.

"Sure." I said.

He began to read from it again:

…_I'm excited to meet his girlfriend Zelda! She is going to be here any minute now! Most importantly, though, I am hoping that she can do something to help us with the slavery issue in France. If that happened it could be a dream come true! _

That was the end of the diary entry. I looked at the last diary entry from today, but decided not to read it. Rusl put the diary back onto the dresser and we both went to bed. The next morning Rusl, Zelda and I got packed and said our goodbyes to Isabelle and Adam.

Adam gave me a hug. "I'm going to miss you! You're like the brother I never had!"

I patted him on the head. "I'm going to miss you too."

Isabelle and Adam hugged Rusl and Zelda, and then Isabelle gave me a hug. "Thanks for everything, Link."

"You're welcome, Isabelle." I grinned.

She handed me a slip of paper. "This is the address to the cottage Adam and I live in. I figured that maybe you'd want it so we could all write letters to one another?"

"Sure!" I said, taking the paper and putting it into my pocket. I looked at her. "Please tell me how everything goes here with the new laws."

"I will." She replied.

I smiled again. "Take care, Isabelle."

"You too." She beamed.

I mounted Epona, Rusl mounted his horse, and Zelda and her guards went into their carriage. A couple of minutes later we were gone, headed back to Hyrule. I may not have known Adam or Isabelle very long, but I have become good friends with them, and hopefully our paths will meet again.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, folks! Thanks again for reading! Where we last left off Link, Rusl, Zelda, and Zelda's guards headed back to Hyrule after dealing with the slavery issues in France. What will happen next? Read on! :DDDDD**

Chapter 16: Letters

**Zelda's POV**

My guards and I, along with Link and Rusl, arrived back in Hyrule about 8 days later. I told Link that I had wanted to write to Isabelle as well and check up on her, so fortunately he gave me a copy of Isabelle's address. I really liked Isabelle. She was so sweet. When I started writing to her, I'd keep a copy of what I wrote to her, and then I'd keep whatever she wrote to me. We have become good friends just through writing to one another. Here are some of the letters we've written back and forth:

_July 12th _

_Dear Isabelle,_

_ Hey there! It's Princess Zelda. I enjoyed meeting you in France, and I would like to write to you in hopes to get to know you more and to maybe become friends! How are you? How has life been in France since Link, Rusl, and me left? I hope it has been good for you and your brother! Sorry this one is so short…I'm not sure what else to say yet. Haha! I'm looking forward to hearing from you!_

_Sincerely,_

_Zelda_

* * *

_July 20th_

_Dear Zelda,_

_ Hi! It's nice to hear from you! I enjoyed meeting you as well! I think that writing each other sounds like a great idea! I would love to get to know you more! I am doing very well! Life in France has been absolutely wonderful for Adam and me! The new king of France is named Bouvaline, and he is very kind! He has been a great advocate for human rights, and her TRULY cares for his subjects! I don't know if Link or Rusl have told you this, but I have always loved playing the piano and singing; and I have recently applied to be the piano accompaniment for a musical in France! If the musical becomes popular enough we may be going on tour and might come to Hyrule as part of that tour! I hope that happens! I would love to see Hyrule! I know that Adam would like to see Hyrule as well! He really looks up to Link and Rusl and he really wants to see all three of you again! :) I hope you are doing well, and I look forward to hearing from you again!_

_Sincerely,_

_Isabelle_

* * *

_September 17th_

_Dear Isabelle,_

_ What is this? Probably my 15th letter to you at least! It has been so much fun getting to know you! GASP! You and Pierre are dating?! How cute! See…I told you that you just needed to be brave and ask him out! Please fill me in on all the details of the other dates! :D From what you have been telling me with all that he's done for you, the two of you have sounded like you could be such a cute couple, so I'm glad you two are together!_

_ I have been thinking about you. How has your hemoptysis been? Has it been giving you any problems? I hope not…That's such a terrible disease, but I know that you'll live life to the fullest; you're that kind of girl! I am praying for your safety and happiness, and crossing my fingers and counting on you to continue to fight it as you have always done! You are one of the strongest people that I know! Don't ever change your amazing personality, integrity, and above all, your undying will to keep trying whenever the going gets tough! _

_ As always, I'm looking forward to hearing from you again, and I'm hoping that you can visit Hyrule soon!_

_Your friend,_

_Zelda_

* * *

This last letter I received from Isabelle last week.

_August 5th_

_Dear Zelda,_

_ I have good news! The newest musical that I am a part of has gotten so popular that we are going to start a tour in September, and I am coming to Hyrule in November as part of that tour! :) I am so excited! Adam and Pierre are coming as well! It should be so much fun! It has been a while since I have seen you all face-to-face, and it will be good to see you again! I would love to see anything that you'd be willing to show me! _

_ As always I hope you are doing well. My health has been…well…let's just say slowly declining this past year. I understand it though; and please do not fret, it is all a part of the progression of this disease I have. I treasure every day that I have on this earth like a gift, not all lives are guaranteed longevity, after all. I promise you to keep on fighting it and to live as long as I can! Thank you for being such a good friend! _

_Your friend,_

_Isabelle_

* * *

"I can't believe it's been over a year since we left France! It doesn't feel like it's been that long!" I thought to myself as I welcomed the morning sun into my bedroom. I feel so worried for Isabelle and her plight with hemoptysis. I don't want her to die…but she is right, not all lives are guaranteed longevity…I got up to brush my hair, and then I put the two ends in the front into my usual braids. I looked at a picture of Link and I that was in a frame by my bedside. The picture was of us at the annual Twilight Fair. As one could probably guess the Twilight Fair is held to honor the hour of Twilight. There are tons of games, music, dancing, and of course, food! He and I were eating mitarashi dango when we took the picture. I held the stick in front of me and just simply had a bite halfway in my mouth. He, meanwhile, had the stick shifted over to the side and showed his teeth while he had the bite halfway in his mouth. It was quite comical! But I adore him; he's the best thing that's ever happened to me! I always think to myself about how lucky I am to have him as my man. He is so kind, giving, brave, and handsome; everything a girl would ever want! I do occasionally think of what it would be like to marry him and have a future with him. I would love that more than anything!

There was a knock at my door. "Zelda…it's time for your Hylian history lesson." My maid Julie said.

"Okay!" I hollered with a huff. "So much for daydreaming…" I thought to myself. Reality always has to hit me like a brick! I finished getting dressed and met Julie in the library.

We sat down together and she opened a big fat black history textbook in front of the two of us. "Let's see…Chapter 23, Section 8, and Subsection 9…" She mumbled to herself. She began to read it aloud to me. "After the siege of the castle during September 1408, the—"

I broke in like a robot, remembering every detail without even a single glance at the book. "'The Hylian Tax Act of 1409 was set into motion. King Rupert the 5th decreed that all Hylians must be taxed for all mail services and that they must be taxed for any wine purchased. The taxes only lasted until the summer of 1413 when 5 Hylians that called themselves the 'Rouge Ninjas' threatened to retaliate if King Rupert the 5th refused to immediately remove the taxes. Because of fears of another siege he had no choice but to comply with the Rouge Ninjas.'" I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I have heard this one before, Julie…like 100 times!"

"Okay…" Julie said as she flipped through the pages in the Chapter. "Subsection 10?"

"The 'Appeal of Apple Wine.' Boring!"

"Section 9?"

"It was all about that book written by Sir Charles called 'The Knight's Inquiries.'" I closed my eyes and exhaled.

"Okay…then maybe we should move on to Chapter 24?" She enquired.

"Come on, Julie! Why don't we skip the history lesson?" I closed the book and held it in my arms as I stood up.

She stood up as well. "We can't do that! It is my duty to te—"

"I know! It's your duty to 'teach me these things.' That's always been your go-to line!" I complained. My expression turned to a smirk when I came up with an idea. "How about we talk about something more interesting…? Like boys?" I wiggled my eyes and giggled. "How are you and Ron doing? Hmmmm?"

"We are not talking about this right now!" Julie shouted.

I grabbed her left hand and pointed to her ring finger. "Why is there NO RING on your finger?! You'd think he'd get you one by now!"

"Zelda! That's enough out of you! It is none of your business!" She grew bright red as her voice squeaked.

"You and I both know you'd much rather be with him right now!" I smiled mischievously.

"I would not!" She argued.

"Yes, you would!" I argued back.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Sounds like a conversation that isn't getting anywhere!" Link interrupted as he waltzed into the room. Seeing his charming face made my heart melt! He looked at me and flashed a smile, and then looked at Julie. "I have come in the nick of time!" He came over to me and took my hand and continued to speak to Julie while gesturing towards me. "I have come to save this gorgeous damsel from the evil clutches of history textbooks!"

I hugged his arm as Julie spoke up. "But—"

"Say no more, Julie. Her father gave me permission to take her out to brunch."

My eyes sparkled. "Yes! Yes yes yes!" I kissed him on the cheek and looked lovingly at him.

"Alright. Don't have too much fun!" Julie teased me.

"I won't!" I said as Link escorted me out of the room. As soon we were out of the castle I was as giddy as a schoolgirl! "Ha! Shows her! Once again my hero has saved me!" I put my head on his shoulder as we walked. "This time from an eternity of boredom!"

He snickered. "You really don't like those lessons, huh?"

I took my head off his shoulder and shook it. "No! I can think of a million things that would be better to do!"

"I suppose I could too!" He laughed again. We kissed on the lips and went to Telma's Bar to have brunch. As soon as we stepped in, we were VERY welcomed!

"If it isn't the happy couple!" Telma shouted as she was mixing a drink from behind the counter. "What brings you two here?"

"We've come to eat some brunch." I said to her with a smile.

"Why certainly, honey! Anything for the cutest couple in Hyrule!" She took us to a table and Link and I sat down to look over the menus. Telma spoke up again. "The breakfast special today is a ham and cheese omelet with fried potatoes."

"Sound good?" Link asked me.

"Yeah it does!" I grinned.

"We'll both take the special." Link said to Telma.

"Coming right up!" She winked.

A few minutes later the omelets came out and Link and I started to eat. We started to talk about all sorts of things and simply lost track of time. A couple of hours later he had to take me back to the castle because he had a mission to go on. :( "Well, back to history lessons!" I sighed as I put my purse on my dresser and plopped onto my bed. "I don't want to get up!"

Sadly only about 2 minutes after I said this to myself Julie stepped into the room. "You know that you only delayed what you still have to do, right? It's time to start Chapter 24!" She beamed pompously. "I'll lead the way to the library!" She taunted.

"Fine, Julie…you win…" I sighed as we went to read out of the big fat black textbook once again.

**Link's POV**

I didn't like having to leave Zelda, but at least I didn't have to go far for this mission. I just had to help the Gorons with some construction work. No biggie. Then I could come back to the castle and stay in the knight's quarters once again. I finished my mission within 4 hours and was headed back to Hyrule Castle. The sun was starting to set when I finally reached Hyrule Field. My mind started to wander as I trotted with Epona. I really enjoyed having brunch with Zelda today. Do I think about the possibility of us having a future together? Yes, I do…I thought about all of the things we talked about together. I wanted to try to remember as many of our conversations as possible. I then thought about our discussion about Isabelle and Adam. I had also received a few letters from her and a few from her brother. I was happy for Isabelle…she and Adam and Pierre is going to visit Hyrule this November. I have to admit I was shocked when I heard that she was dating Pierre, but in a good way. I'm glad for the two of them; they'll be good together. As her friend however, I am worried about her health. I thought back to what Adam said to me what feels like way back when…

"_She's just frustrated…not with you; with her life. She was newly diagnosed with hemoptysis last month, but the doctors have already told her that she has only 2 more years to live." _

Of course I don't want my friend to die! That would be horrible! Since then she and I have written back and forth a lot, and we're very good friends now. She's been so strong through it all, and I don't know if I could be that strong in her position. I thought about one of the letters she sent me recently…I particularly thought about a select few lines towards the end:

_I appreciate all that you and Rusl and Zelda have done for me. You are all amazing friends. I'll be honest; there have been some days recently where I have thought "I won't make it; I won't live…" and the thought of that scared me. I don't want to die, but thinking on it now I've been kicking myself. I shouldn't have such a defeatist attitude! I have consented with myself to greet death with a smile on my face, knowing that so many people have touched my life with kindness and love, two things that will forever stand the test of time. I used to regret my life and thanks to all of you, I don't regret it anymore, and for that I feel I owe you all my highest gratitude. _

_I am looking forward to seeing you all while the musical is on tour! It will be fun! Until then I look forward to hearing from you!_

_Your friend,_

_Isabelle_

* * *

I arrived back at the castle and went into my room in the knight's quarters. I plopped onto my bed and went to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, everyone! Thanks again for reading! :DDDD Where we last left off, Link and Zelda went out for brunch and had a good time! Link and Zelda have been writing letters with Isabelle, and they have learned that the musical Isabelle is a part of is popular enough for touring, so Isabelle, Adam, and Pierre are coming to visit Hyrule! Yays! What'll happen next? Read on! :)**

Chapter 17: The Arrival of Friends

A few months later it was November. My first service with the knights was in October, so I moved back into my home until my second service with the knights, which is scheduled to begin next April. I missed being in the same "house" as Zelda, but I knew that we'd still be together…it didn't make a difference whether I was in Ordon Village or Hyrule Castle. As much as I missed her, it was nice to see all of my friends again. It was beginning to get very cold in Hyrule, and I was dreading the approach of winter because winters in Hyrule can be brutal. Despite the winding down of nice weather I have noticed that the people in Castle Town have been getting hyped-up about "The Traveling Musical." I felt proud to say that my friend is a part of it, and I was excited to see her, Adam, and Pierre. (Even though Pierre wanted to kill me a year and a half ago, but we'll just forget about that!) Isabelle and the others were going to be here November 12th for the tour, and they would stay for about 2 weeks in Hyrule, with shows playing only on the two weekends, and then the tour would continue in Termina. Isabelle, Pierre, and Adam didn't have to worry about staying at an inn while in Hyrule however; Zelda already invited them all to stay in the castle.

Soon it was the 12th of November. I woke up that morning and rubbed my eyes. I heard an all too familiar voice. "LLLLLLLIIIIIIIIINNNNNKKKKK!" Fado bellowed from outside.

I went up to my window and wiped the fog from it to see outside. Opening up the window just enough to carry a conversation, I called out, "Yeah, Fado?" He was in a jacket and pants because of the cold.

"Can you help me herd some goats?" He hollered.

"Sure!" I said. "Let me just get dressed!" I closed the window and shuddered from the slightly chilly wind. I helped him heard the goats and then we went into his house to chat over hot coffee.

"So, your friends from France are coming to visit, I hear?" He commented.

"Yeah." I took a sip of the warm beverage.

"Are you excited?"

"Yeah, I am!" I grinned as I warmed my hands against the cup. "It'll be nice to see them again."

"Good! I'm looking forward to meeting them." He took a large gulp of his coffee and burped.

"Have some manners, Fado!" His wife rolled her eyes.

"Sorry sweetie." He rubbed the back of his head.

She tittered. "It's okay." She smiled and kissed him on the head and sat down for coffee.

He whispered to me with his hand next to his mouth. "It's all fine and dandy when you're dating a lady, but when you get married to them they like to nag you! Be forewarned!"

"I heard that…" She said with annoyance. He froze as she continued to speak. "Now, who made you coffee out of the kindness of her heart because she knew you were working out in the cold?"

He gulped. "You did."

She whispered to me. "Don't let him fill your head with false information!"

"Okay!" I chuckled.

I went to Hyrule Castle afterwards to say hello to Zelda and to wait for Isabelle and the others to arrive in Hyrule. They would be in about noon today. I knocked on Zelda's bedroom door and saw that she was dressed and ready for the day when she opened the door. I took her in my arms and twirled her around. "Hey you!"

"Hi!" I laughed.

"Oh!" She gasped. "I need to show you something! Just a minute!" She ran back into her bedroom and came out with her hands behind her back.

"What are you hiding?" I asked her with a grin.

"Pick which hand!" She joked.

"Right." I said.

"Good guess!" She revealed her right hand with two slips of paper in it. "Guess what these are?"

"I don't know…" I replied.

"Two front row tickets to the opening night of the musical on Friday!" She beamed.

"That's great!"

"I know! Isabelle gave them to me in the most recent letter she wrote!"

"It should be a lot of fun!" I said to her.

She nodded in response. "It should be a good date night too! Isabelle said that this musical is a love story! And you know—"

"That you're a sap for love stories?" I taunted.

She twiddled her thumbs and giggled. "…Maybe…!"

"That's part of what I love about you!" I took her in my arms and kissed her passionately.

"You're the best man ever!" She stopped kissing me and said in a hushed tone, "Remember, exnay on the PDA around my father. He's sensitive about that…he 'doesn't like to see his girl growing up'…"

"Right." I said with a blush. We went outside of the castle in our jackets when it was close to noon to greet Isabelle, Adam, and Pierre. A carriage stopped in front and Adam was the first one out. He was followed by Isabelle and Pierre, who were holding hands.

"Hi Link! Hi Zelda!" Adam came up and gave the two of us hugs.

"Hi, you two!" Isabelle smiled and let go of Pierre's hand to hug us.

"Hi!" I said to Isabelle.

"Hello!" Zelda said to her.

Pierre walked up to me. "Hello, Link."

"Hello? You know English?" I said in surprise.

"I have been studying it." He smiled.

"Oh. Good for you!" I said to him. We shook hands.

"Sorry about confusion in past." He said in broken English. Isabelle giggled and kissed him on the cheek. He responded by rubbing her arm.

"It's okay." I replied.

"Let us help with zee bags." He suggested.

"Alright." I said. He and Adam and I grabbed the bags and put them into 3 separate bedrooms. As he and I were alone unpacking bags in one of the rooms I thought I'd talk to him some more. "How are you and Isabelle?"

"Isabelle and me?" He pointed to himself. I nodded. "We very good." He grinned. "I love her very much!"

"I'm glad." I said.

"You and Zelda? You love her?" He chuckled.

"Yes. Very much." My cheeks were a bright crimson. "Your English is quite good!"

"Thanks." He continued to help unpack. "You propose Zelda?" He questioned seriously.

"Huh?" I turned bright red again. "No…not yet. I am waiting for the right time." I said, starting to feel a little uncomfortable with his forwardness.

"I propose Isabelle before we go Termina." He smiled while blushing.

I dropped the bag I was carrying. "WHAT?!" I yelled.

He looked at me with concern. "You okay?"

I snapped out of it. "Yeah. I am just surprised. Happily surprised, but surprised." I said to him.

"Oh." He said with relief. He took out a small box and showed me the elegant diamond engagement ring. It was official. He sighed from blushing so brilliantly. "You the only one I told. I not tell Adam yet. I tell him tonight."

"Oh." I said to him. "Well, good luck. You two seem like a wonderful couple."

"Thanks." He said in return. "I nervous as hell…" He looked down at the ground. "…but I want to spend life with Isabelle." He put the ring away and hid the box.

We spent all afternoon together at the castle. It was fun catching up and playing games and whatnot. That evening during dinner a guard came up to me and touched me on the shoulder. "I need to speak to you after you eat supper, Sir Link."

"Okay." I said. After we finished eating we all went our separate ways. I went to go talk to the guard in the knight's quarters. "What's the matter?" I asked him.

"You have another mission starting tomorrow. It will take you a couple of days to complete." He stated plainly.

"I should be finished with it by Friday, right?" I inquired.

"Yes. Without a doubt." He answered.

"Good." I said.

"Date night with Princess Zelda, I assume?" He poked.

"Yes." I said.

"Okay. That is all." He responded as he walked away.

I looked around for Zelda and kissed her goodnight and got ready to go home. I went into Adam's room and told him goodnight. I looked in both of the other rooms for Isabelle and Pierre. No sign of them. It was getting late, so I wandered out into the courtyard to find them. Sure enough, I saw the two of them in jackets and holding hands. I hid behind a bush to spy. They stopped by the fountain and he embraced her, whispering sweet nothings into her ear while she giggled. The sight of it made me feel a little uneasy…I don't know why; it just did. Then they shared a very passionate French kiss. "Okay, I've seen enough!" I said to myself while sticking out my tongue and snuck out. I got onto Epona and headed home. I went to bed late that night because I couldn't sleep. I always get nervous before a mission because I never know what will ensue…

The next morning I woke up and finished packing for my mission. I then went over to my fridge and got out some eggs. I scrambled the eggs and sat down to eat, looking out the window that was across the room. After a couple of bites I started to playfully scoot the food around the plate with my fork out of boredom.

Suddenly there was a knock at my door. I opened it and saw Isabelle. "Hi Isabelle." I said. "What brings you here?"

She looked at me. "I was wondering if Adam and I could join you on your mission." I could see the fog coming out of her mouth as she spoke.

"Oh. Sure! I like company!" I said. "How did you find out about it?"

"I spoke to the guard." She said. I looked behind her and saw Adam and bags on both of their backs.

"What about Pierre?" I asked.

"I asked him, but he didn't want to go." She said.

"That's too bad." I said.

"He said that it will be good for the three of us to spend some quality friend time. I just wish he would have come as well. He isn't big on camping…"

"He isn't?" I questioned. "I wouldn't have guessed that."

"Yeah." She looked down, and then back up at me. "But that's okay! We'll all have fun without the party pooper!"

"True!" I smiled. "We'll have fun!" I thought about the cold of the outdoors. "Come on in!" I let the two of them into the warmth of the house.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Thanks again for reading folks! Where we last left off, Isabelle, Adam, and Pierre arrived in Hyrule. Isabelle and Adam are going to go on Link's mission with him. :) What'll happen next? Read on! :DDDD**

Chapter 18: Friend Time on a Mission

We sat around the table with some hot cocoa and chatted together for a couple of minutes and then it was time to leave. We were to go to Faron Woods and help get rid of some monsters. Despite having defeated Gannon there were still monsters in some sections of Hyrule, obviously not as prevalent. Faron Woods has had problems with the monsters lately. We had to take a tent because we were going deep into the forest, and it would be too difficult and time-consuming to get back to my house. We were all trotting together, I was at the right on Epona, and Adam and Isabelle were on Bugle to my left. It was silent for the first couple of hours. After a while I looked over at Isabelle. "Say, did you pack your medicine?"

"I did." She smiled. "I'll be fine…thanks for worrying, though."

"You're welcome." I said. Awkward conversation…I exhaled and the puff of smoke formed a circle in front of my face. Of course she's going to bring her meds; she'd be crazy not to! My thoughts were interrupted by a giant spider in our way. I stopped Epona. "I'll take care of this thing!" I leapt off Epona and started to try and fight it. I blocked it with my shield as it tried to bite me. We seemed to tango around together, although its preference for dance moves was to lunge at me to kill. I stabbed it with my sword and it was dead. "Good." I grinned. "We were successful." There was another one that was headed towards Adam. I dashed over and sliced at it with precision, and it chose me as its enemy. This spider was larger than the last, and yet much more quick on its feet. It lunged at me and nearly bit me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Isabelle grab out her bow.

"Don't interrogate it!" Adam shouted at Isabelle. "You'd be hard pressed health-wise if you get injured!"

"I know, Adam!" Isabelle responded. "I'm just taking it out in case Link needs help!"

"You're not listening—" Adam started. The spider brought me to the ground and showed its venomous fangs.

"Hate to break up the conversing, but can someone please help! I'm a little trapped!" I screamed.

Isabelle shot an arrow and hit the spider on the back. It shrilled in pain and jumped at Isabelle.

"Shit!" I yelled, trying as quickly as I could to get to Isabelle. "Isabelle! Look out!" She tried shooting another arrow while jogging backward, but it pinned her down and swiftly sank its fangs into her calf. I ran over and stabbed the arachnid dead. I then looked at her calf. "Are you okay?"

"Yes!" She said with sarcasm. "My calf ALWAYS hurts like hell!"

I looked at Adam. "There should be a pond nearby. Try to find some leeches." He nodded and left.

Isabelle looked at me like she was going to retch. "Leeches?" she shuddered.

"Do you want the venom to spread?" I asked her. She shook her head and I sighed. "That's what we're going to have to do."

Adam came back a few minutes later with a leech and I put it on her leg. Adam looked at me. "Should we set up camp here for the night?"

I looked at my surroundings as the leech started to suck the poison out of Isabelle's calf. The sun _was_ beginning to set. "Yeah, it would be smart." I said.

"Let me take care of it." He said as he grabbed the tent out of the pack on Epona.

"Thanks, Adam." I said to him. He just nodded. I turned my attention back to Isabelle, who was looking at the leech sucking her leg with befuddlement. I took it off about 10 minutes later when all the visible poison was gone. I was hoping that whatever poison was left in her system would be too small a quantity to cause any issues. I bandaged up Isabelle's calf and we made a campfire to have dinner by. Despite the warmth of the flames, the cold November wind was getting unbearable, so the three of us headed into the tent. I went back out to put special thermal blankets on Bugle and Epona to keep them warm. When I came back into the tent Adam was asleep but Isabelle was writing in her diary with a lamp next to her. She looked up only to see that I had come back in. I got into my sleeping bag and tucked myself in.

"Thank you for all of your help today, Link." Isabelle said with a soft smile.

"Don't mention it." I said with my eyes gleaming. "It's what I do." I started to write in my field journal and got so focused on writing that I didn't see her get up and put the lamp next to me only to go to her sleeping bag and fall asleep. A few minutes later I blew out the lamp and went to sleep. I could hear the moaning of the wind coming from outside. It was definitely really cold. I brought myself deeper into the sleeping bag and went to sleep again.

The next couple of days were pretty uneventful. We ran into a few more monsters and defeated them, but it was otherwise very boring. One evening we were sitting by the campfire and eating some meat for dinner. Isabelle was finished eating, so she put the container to the side on the log she was sitting on and then proceeded to fall over the log…literally. Adam ran to the rescue and tried to see what was wrong. "She's unconscious." He said to me. I came over and watched him feel her forehead. "That's why; she has a fever."

My eyes widened. "I'll go get her a cold cloth."

"Okay." He said, but immediately showed doubts with the plan. "But she should be brought into the tent before that; and I can't carry her. I'll go get the cloth cold."

I nodded and picked up Isabelle as he took a cloth to place cold water on. I laid her down and put a couple of blankets over her. Adam came into the tent and placed the cloth on her forehead.

He and I watched over Isabelle carefully for the next couple of hours and late into the night. Isabelle was sound asleep when Adam stood up. "I'm going to fill my water canteen and use the forest for 'business.'" He got up after grabbing his canteen, stepped out of the tent and was gone.

After looking at Isabelle for a minute I removed the cloth and checked her temperature with the back of my hand. She was still too warm, and I could see just how flushed her cheeks were in the lamplight. I sat next to her and watched her sleep. She was actually…kind of pretty when she was asleep. I turned away in a blush even though I knew that no one could see it. I continued to look at her. Her face began to scrunch up and she started to moan, but I realized that she was having a dream because she didn't wake up and the look on her face subsided quickly. I started to look more closely at the features of her face. I found myself staring at her lips. Her lips looked so…delicate. I turned away again, thinking of that time that I did awkwardly kiss her, and then I had denied feeling anything. I could feel my cheeks becoming redder. I felt her forehead again to check her temperature. It was starting to come down…that's good. Instead of pulling my hand away as I had done before, curiosity got to me. I hesitated and then finally touched her lips with my finger. My heart started to race. "No one will know…" I said to myself. "Know what?" I was now having a debate with myself. One side of me was saying, "Why don't you just kiss her and see if you feel anything?" The other side was telling me, "You idiot! You are dating a wonderful woman that you don't want to cheat on! And this girl is dating a different man! Foolhardy, I say! Damn you!" I shook my head, but the first side chimed in again, "No one will ever find out. Just kiss her quickly. The timing couldn't be any more perfect. She's asleep. Adam's gone. No one else is here; what's stopping you?" I huffed out of frustration with my indecisive self. "It's the old debate with the angel vs. the devil!" After another moment of hesitation I started to stand up, but knelt back down next to her. I leaned down close and ever-so gently kissed her on the lips and then pulled away quickly. "There devil, happy?" I whispered to myself. My heart pounded out of my chest, and I sort of wanted to kiss her again. I leaned in again and this time gave her a long kiss on the lips. I didn't come up from the kiss until I heard something drop. I made a loud kissing noise as I pulled away from her lips.

I was embarrassed to see Adam in shock. He saw me kiss her! He looked at me with confusion. "You…and Zelda…? Then you…and my sister…? W-what?"

"It was an impulsive kiss!" I turned towards Adam and tried in vain to defend myself, raising my voice.

I didn't see Isabelle open her eyes as I blurted to Adam, "She was crying, so I did what my instincts told me to do to cheer her up; so I impulsively kissed her!"

"She was asleep!" Adam shouted.

"You did what?" Isabelle said quietly from behind me. I contemplated whether or not to turn around. Either way I try to approach this I'm dead meat!


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, folks! Thanks again for reading! Where we last left off probably left a lot of you very confused. Yes, Link is an idiot. He kissed Isabelle...no worries, it will be explained in this chapter! :DDDD Enjoy! **

**As always, please review, it makes me a better writer! :DDDDD**

Chapter 19: AWKWARD

I was being cornered like a criminal. I didn't dare look at Isabelle. I continued to look at Adam and stood up. "I…I…"

WHAM! I was hit in the back of the head, and it hurt _really_ badly! I finally gathered up the courage to look at Isabelle, who was standing behind me and cracking her knuckles and getting ready to hit me again. "I AM GOING TO BEAT YOU UNTIL YOU'RE BLACK AND BLUE!"

"SPARE ME, PLEASE!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

She pounded her fist and Adam cowered in the corner. "Before I pummel you beyond recognition, I have a burning question…"

I swallowed. "What?"

"Why in the goddesses' names did you kiss me?"

That was the last question I wanted her to ask. "I didn't kiss you." I lied.

"Liar!" Adam stated with a devilish smile. "I saw it!"

Isabelle looked at Adam and then back at me. "Hmmmm…than why did Adam see it? Is my own brother lying to me? I know that Adam wouldn't lie to me."

"He is lying to you." I fibbed once again. "I kissed you that one time and I regretted it. I haven't kissed you since."

"I saw him kissing you while you were asleep! His lips were touching yours! How else should I say it? I am NOT lying!" Adam shouted as he looked at Isabelle and me. "I was so startled that I dropped my water canteen!"

"I'll explain." I said to Adam. "It only looked like I was kissing Isabelle…she…um…was having trouble breathing…yeah…and I gave her CPR."

"Then what was with that kissing sound?" He looked at me questioningly. "Last time I knew you don't make kissing noises when you give CPR."

Isabelle cracked her knuckles. "You are full of bullcrap! I was breathing _just fine_! Quit lying, Pinocchio! Your nose is getting as long as a branch!"

"I-I-I'm not lying!" I stuttered, feeling hopeless as I turned bright red. I was in deep trouble!

"Want me to help you dig your grave?" Adam chuckled.

"No thanks." I said fearfully to Adam. "She's dug it for me!"

She grabbed me by the shirt collar. "I mean, really?! Why would you kiss me when you're in a relationship with Zelda? She's gorgeous, talented, kind, and she's a princess for Pete's sake!"

"I…fine…I kissed you." I said nervously.

"I knew that already. _Thanks_ for being honest, though." She said while rolling her eyes. "What I wanted to know was why? It doesn't make any sense." She looked at me while I stayed silent. "Well?"

I shuffled my feet around. I looked at her, then the floor, and then at Adam, and then at her again. My eyes met with hers and I looked away with a blush.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" She looked at me angrily. "Why are you not talking?!" She looked at me again. "…_Don't_ tell me…" Concern came over her face, but she shook it off. "No, how _could you_? It isn't possible…" She looked down.

I looked at Adam and he spoke to me. "Do you…_like_ my sister?" Isabelle looked up in shock at Adam's words.

I swallowed. "No!" I stammered. "She's as ugly as all get out!"

"Then why did you kiss her?" He huffed with irritation. "We still have yet to figure that out!"

I had to fabricate a lie…but what would sound convincing? "I have been missing Zelda really badly…especially kissing her, and I felt the need to kiss a girl; any girl, so long as I could feel like I wasn't missing that interaction…as weird as that sounds…" I was bright red. If the lie was an object and you turned it upside down, and then proceeded to close one eye and look at the object with a straw, then maybe it would seem _remotely_ true.

The two of them looked at me like I was an idiot. "Just because you're missing your girlfriend doesn't justify you cheating on her and kissing another girl." Isabelle said. "There have been a lot of men that have left their girlfriends and spouses to go to war and whatnot, and they don't go kissing other women just because they miss kissing their significant other. That would make them unfaithful, a trait that we ladies find _very_ immature in a man."

"Ouch!" Adam commented.

Isabelle ignored him and continued. "If Pierre had done that to me, our relationship would be over…if I were Zelda I wouldn't stand that for one minute! And don't think for one second that I'll willingly be a part of your game of breaking her heart! She's too sweet, and she's my friend!" She pointed her finger at me. "And I thought you were smarter and more altruistic than that! _My_ mistake…" She put on her jacket and walked to the opening in the tent to put on her shoes. "I'm leaving the two of you be…Don't come and find me!" She looked at Adam and her look softened. "You did nothing wrong, brother." She smiled at him, and then looked scornfully at me. "As for you, I hope you think about the mistakes you've made!" She walked outside with her satchel and left.

I looked at Adam, who looked at me with a frown on his face. "Now that she's gone, tell me. Do you like my sister? Please be honest."

I nodded. "I do like her, but I like Zelda, too…I mean, I feel more strongly for Zelda, I love Zelda. She's everything I need; but I feel strangely attracted to Isabelle…" I put my face in my hand. "Why am I telling an 11 year old this?"

He looked at me. "Doesn't matter. I understand. But you can't necessarily like two girls at once and live to tell, one of them is going to kill you. That and Isabelle does have a boyfriend. And you have a girlfriend."

"I didn't say I wanted a relationship with Isabelle." I glared at him and he nodded.

He looked at his hands. "Sorry, I got ahead of myself…" He stared outside to see if Isabelle was coming. There was no sign of her, so he continued. "When did you start liking my sister, if you don't mind me asking?"

"The first time I saw her." I replied. "I was in shock that she was a lady because I thought she was a man, so I don't think I understood it at first, but I…I was in awe by her beauty."

He looked at me like I was a freak. "My sister? Beautiful? You've got to be kidding me!" He started cackling with laughter.

"I'm being serious." I looked at him straight in the face.

"Oh." He said with confusion. "So you kissed her because you like her?"

"That pretty much sums it all up." I sighed. "When I kissed her in front of you and Rusl to 'prove my point,' it backfired because I actually felt something. My heart felt like it couldn't stop beating hastily after I kissed her that one time, and I…I wanted to kiss her again…" I looked down. "I made a huge mistake…and I hope Zelda never finds out."

"Yeah, that would be bad." He agreed.

"I know one thing for sure, my friendship with Isabelle is going to be uncomfortable now…and it's my fault…"

"Can't change what's already been done…just try to make amends." Adam said with his eyes closed while he sat in a Buddha position.

"Did you read that from a fortune cookie or something?" I looked at him with peculiarity.

"Nah, just messing with you!" He laughed as he stood back up.

"Good." I said with a chuckle.

"Indeed." He smiled.

"Don't you dare tell Isabelle, okay?" I said to him. "What was said in this tent will stay between you and me!"

"My lips are sealed!" Adam grinned and pretended to zip his mouth shut.

**Isabelle's POV**

I told them that I was going away, but I knew that if I truly did that I would probably perish in the night, so I went to the back of the tent and sat on the cold, hard ground in contemplation. I listened in to their conversation from outside, and I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I mean, at this point I thought that there was a small chance that he'd like me, but I didn't think that it would truly be possible. If only he knew how much I liked him. "What? Why am I saying that?" I whispered to myself. "It's not like it would have been any less complicated, he still would have been with Zelda, but why would I have cared? Why would I be concerned about him knowing?" I looked down at the ground. "Because for one second _you thought_ you'd actually stand a chance with a guy like him…" I stared out into the dark. I have forever thought that Pierre was the guy for me and that no one else could make my heart skip a beat, and that because he didn't have interest in me previously that I was meant to live and die alone. But those feelings that I thought were unwavering changed as soon as Link stepped into my life, and now I don't know how to feel…


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, folks! Where we last left off Link was getting beaten and yelled at by Isabelle because he kissed her! OUCH! In the end of the last chapter, Link told Adam about how he liked Isabelle, and Isabelle heard their conversation. Turns out she likes him too! What's going to happen next? Read on! :DDDDDDD**

Chapter 20: Opening Night

**Link's POV**

A few minutes later Isabelle came back into the tent. I was afraid of the repercussions for my actions, and I prepared to be cussed out or something, but she didn't say a word to Adam or me. She silently walked over to her sleeping bag and tucked herself in to go to sleep. Adam and I went to sleep as well.

The last couple of days of the mission were very uneventful. Isabelle got over her fever, but she didn't mention anything about that awkward situation where I kissed her again.

Soon it was Friday. Opening night for the musical! I got dressed in a nicer tunic and met with Zelda to go to the theatre. There was a huge group of people waiting to get in. The show was scheduled to start at 7pm, and it was about 6:45pm. Zelda looked at me with glee on her face. "I'm so excited! This should be a good show!"

I kissed her on the lips. "Yeah; it should be!" I looked at her. She was in a lovely red-colored satin dress that was floor length, but it wasn't a ball gown. I held her hand as we waited and my heart pounded. God, do I love this woman! I felt terrible about kissing Isabelle, it was stupid. The difference between being around her and being around Zelda is huge. I can barely even breathe when I'm around Zelda, and I can't wait to have a future with her! She is my everything, and I don't know what I'd do without her! I wrapped my arms around her from behind. "I love you…" I whispered.

"I love you too." She smiled. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye with tenderness. The doors opened and everyone started to head in for the show. We sat down together in the front row and waited for it to start. Soon the curtains came up and the lights turned on. There were about 20 people rushing across the stage and pretending to buy items out of stalls. They were running around and talking indistinctively all at once. Suddenly a piano began to play and I looked over and realized that Isabelle was the one playing it. It was a cheery melody. 3 people went towards the front of the stage and huddled around each other like they were gossiping. They spoke in beat with the piano:

_"This town's too busy!" A man shouted._

_ "This town's too small!" A lady nodded._

_ "I'm having doubts that…" The third began. "I like it at all!" _

The group then began to sing to the piano:

_Why is life_

_So complicated?_

_Is it worth it?_

_Or is it wasted?_

_Come with me and you will see,_

_What I mean!_

They started running around and pointing to random characters while they sang:

_This one's a blacksmith!_

_This one's a crook!_ (He grinned)

_This one's a florist!_ (A fat man)

_This one sells books!_ (A cranky woman)

_But no one ever seems_

_To be satisfied!_

_Instead they love to tease_

_And act dignified!_

A blonde-haired, green-eyed woman was revealed in the crowd in an apron working at a bakery. She began to sing a solo:

_Why can't the world_

_Show a little love?_

_Compassion and grace;_

_That's all I ask!_

_Why act so cruel_

_To your sisters _

_And to your brothers?_

_As if the world _

_isn't brimming with hate?_

The musical continued, and the blonde woman fell in love with some red-haired man with blue eyes. The man almost died when he was poisoned, but the woman's singing brought him back to life…okay…? That concept was a little weird, but it was a good musical, anyway. Zelda loved it. It lasted about two hours, and when it was over Zelda and I went to go congratulate Isabelle for her part in it. "Great job Isabelle! I loved the musical, and you did so well on the piano!" She beamed.

Isabelle blushed. "Thanks Zelda."

"You're welcome!" She gave Isabelle thumbs up and gave her a hug. "Thanks for the tickets!"

"Yeah, thanks for the tickets!" I said with a smile. "It was a good show!"

Pierre came up and kissed Isabelle on the cheek. "Bon boulot, ma chérie! (Good job, sweetie!)"

"Merci de miel! (Thanks honey!)" She kissed him lightly on the lips.

A man came up to us and looked at Isabelle. "We made 5,000 rupees tonight!" He grinned from ear to ear. I realized he was the producer.

"That's great!" Isabelle cheered.

He handed her 100 rupees. "Here's your portion for tonight's show."

She nodded. "Thank you so much!"

"Thank you!" He smiled.

We all went out to a late dinner afterwards at Telma's Bar. We had some parmesan chicken and fettuccine pasta. We talked for a while and then finally said goodbye and went our separate ways.

I received some information from a knight the next day. I have to go on another mission…I have to go to Termina…ugh…it's going to take forever! I have to deliver some things to the Gorons there from the Gorons here in Hyrule. Some sort of trade-agreement thing. I packed my bags and left Hyrule that evening after going to Hyrule Castle and kissing Zelda goodbye. I thought about her for what felt like the whole way to Termina. Then I thought about Isabelle, then Zelda, then Isabelle…GOD! HOW CAN I BE THINKING ABOUT TWO GIRLS IN THIS WAY AT THE SAME TIME!? I know deep in my heart that I care for Zelda much, much more, but I still thought about both of them! "STUPID EMOTIONS! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" I accidentally shouted out loud. Epona just neighed. Thank god I was by myself…well, besides Epona, but she can't talk to other people about my random outbursts; so I'm safe! I slapped myself in the face. "Quit trying to justify everything for yourself; it isn't working!" I whispered to myself, stroking Epona's neck. She continued to trot and I spoke to her again, "I am just going to do my best to not think about it. It's silly of me; I have a mission to do!" My eyes shined. "That's right! We both have important matters to take care of, huh girl?" She whinnied. I then began to think to myself again…will Zelda be okay without me? She probably really misses me, I know I miss her! Will Isabelle be alright? It has been a year and a half since her "death sentence;" she could fall ill anytime… "GOD!" I shouted. "Obviously not thinking about it isn't working!" I began to tug at my gauntlet in frustration. "Damn it!" Epona stopped. Funny how she knew something was bothering me! I stroked her mane. "It's okay, girl. I have a lot of things on my mind…" I huffed. "Why am I telling you this? Do you even understand what I'm saying?" If I were in my wolf form I'd be able to convey it to her, but I figured it didn't matter.

After 4 days of traveling I arrived in Termina and went to see the Gorons there. I delivered some gems and metals to them and help aid them with moving rocks and performing maintenance on some of the houses; just a lot of simple tasks. I planned on staying two nights in Termina. It was the second night, and as I prepared for bed I looked forward to going home tomorrow. I went to sleep at the stock pot inn that night, but after a few hours my slumber was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Who could that be at 2 in the morning?" I whispered.

I went over and opened the door. Standing in the doorway was a maid. "Sorry about waking you so late, Sir Link, but there is a man downstairs that wishes to speak with you immediately." She smiled.

"It's alright." I replied. "Thank you." She gave me a slight bow with her hands laced in front of her, then turned and walked away. I changed out of PJs and into my green tunic, green hat and brown boots. I walked downstairs and saw a messenger standing by the front desk. "Hello, sir." I addressed him. "I understand you wanted to speak to me?"

"Yes." He said, taking a letter out of his knapsack. "You have a letter from Princess Zelda." He handed it to me. "I don't know of the details because I didn't want to open it and meddle, but I have reasons to believe it is urgent…she summoned me to give you this letter only a couple of days after you left."

"Oh." I said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Have a good evening." He shook my hand and left.

I went up to my room at the inn and sat on the bed. I opened the letter and began to read the contents:

_Dear Link,_

_ I know that you must be quite confused as to why I'm sending you a letter. I could sweeten the situation up and simply tell you that I wanted to send my love, but I have sad news to bring you. Isabelle is having difficulties breathing and has just been admitted into the hospital. Her medication was with her and properly given to her after the air-filled pouch was used to put air into her lungs, but mysteriously enough the medication didn't work. She is in critical condition with a high fever and shortness of breath. I knew that you would want to know this considering how close of friends you are with her as am I. I do not know how much longer she has, but I'm afraid that the fate we've both feared for our friend is looming upon us. I'm so sorry to bring you this news! I'm tearing up as I'm writing this letter…it isn't easy watching someone you care about struggle for their life. We'll get through this together, I just know it! Please make come as soon as you can! Be safe. I love you!_

_Love,_

_Zelda_

I held the letter out in front of me and just stared at it with my mouth wide open. "I have to get home quick!" I whispered to myself. "I don't want Isabelle to die before I can see her and say goodbye first!" I put my face in my hands and sighed.

**Sorry that things happened so quickly in this chapter...:( The mission with the Gorons wasn't of much importance at all, but Link still had to go help them. So...will Link get back to Hyrule in time? Stay tuned to find out!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, folks! Thanks again for reading! I really appreciate it! Where we last left off, Link was given some sad news. Isabelle's health is failing her! What's going to happen? Read on to find out! **

**Please review! It makes me a better writer! :DDDDD**

Chapter 21: Struggle

**Zelda's POV**

I was so scared that Link wouldn't make it in time; Isabelle's health was quickly fading before our eyes in that hospital room. There we were; me, Rusl, Uli, Adam, Telma, and Pierre. I was sitting in a chair by her bed, Pierre was kneeling next to her and holding her hand, and Adam was sitting in another chair across the room with a blank stare on his face. Uli and Rusl were standing near the bed with their arms around each other, and Telma was sitting in another chair. Isabelle had a cold cloth on her forehead for the fever. The air-filled pouch was on an end table next to me and another towel for any coughed-up blood was in Pierre's hand. I looked at her, but she didn't mumble a word, being conscious but weak. Each of her breaths was shallow, and some sounded wheezy. She finally turned to look at me and smiled. I held her other hand. "We're here for you."

She slowly looked around at everyone and beamed as she replied breathily, "Thank you."

Pierre looked at her hand kissed her hand. "S'il vous plaît enregistrer votre force! (Please save your strength!)" He said desperately. Isabelle nodded.

Adam went up to Isabelle and gave her a hug and started to cry. She put her hand on his back in compassion. "I promised you that I wouldn't cry!" He wailed. I put my hand on his back as well and he looked at me with tears flowing like a river from his cheeks. "Why does my sister have to go through this; she's done nothing wrong!" His crying made his breathing unsteady and gasping.

"I'm sorry; I don't know…" I looked down.

He shook as he cried and Rusl went over to cheer him up. Isabelle looked at Adam with concern.

We watched her for another minute and the doctor came in. "She needs to get some rest." He said as he took out a vile. "I'm going to give her this sleep aid." He uncorked the vile and gave it to Isabelle and had her drink it. A few minutes later she laid her head down on her pillow and fell asleep. A couple of hours later the sun began to rise outside and the sky showed a melting pot of red, orange, and pink hues. It was so lovely to see over the rooftops from the window of the hospital room! I began to hear birds chirping, a sure sign that daytime was approaching.

Isabelle woke up and listened to the sound of the birds. "How sweet." She said with a soft chuckle as she sat up in bed. "I would like to see the sunrise." She began to get out of bed.

"Isabelle, don't!" I said to her.

"It's alright." Isabelle answered. "I'll be fine." She slowly walked over and put her hands on the window sill. She unlatched the lock and opened the window.

"What are you thinking? It's cold." Rusl said with worry.

He stopped worrying when he saw what she was doing. She held out her finger and a sparrow landed on it after she waited patiently. She whistled to it and it trilled back. "Why are you still here, little one?" She asked the bird. "You should have flown south." She smiled and gave it a kiss on the head. She then gently lifted her finger to let it fly away and closed the window. She looked at the rest of us. "I've always loved birds…I'm sorry if I confused you or worried you."

"Don't worry about it." Rusl grinned.

"It seemed to like you!" I commented.

"I guess it did." She sighed. "I used to watch them and wish that I could be as free as they are." She watched the bird from the window as it flew further away.

I looked at her with earnestness in reaction to her sad statement. The interaction she had with that little sparrow was so precious. That proves all the more how she has such a good soul. She looked at the sunrise dreamily and took a deep breath and started to cough again. Rusl grabbed the air-filled pouch and Pierre went towards her with the towel. Like the thunder comes after the lightning the blood followed the coughing. Pierre held the towel to her mouth and she coughed violently. Rusl then used the air pouch on her. She fainted but Rusl caught her and put her back in bed. "This is so sad…" I finally said aloud.

"She's really weak…" Rusl added. "I'm worried…"

"As we all are." Adam said as he looked at Isabelle sleeping peacefully.

**Link's POV**

After putting my face in my hands for one minute, I immediately packed my bags and left. I can't waste any time! It may be a lot of sleepless nights, but I can't afford to get there too late! I paid my bill at the inn and saddled Epona, and then we were off.

The next few days were spent in anxiety as I traveled night and day in hopes to make it in time. I kept on thinking to myself, "she could be dead now and you just don't know it…" I just had to force myself to shake it off. There were things that I desperately needed to talk to her about, and I obviously can't do that if she's dead. I had to keep my hopes up no matter what! As I rode on Epona at a quickened pace I thought about one of the memories I've shared with Isabelle. She and Adam and I were at the church just sitting and chatting:

_Isabelle pulled out her songbook. "Would you two like to hear a song?" She asked Adam and me._

_We both nodded. Adam looked like he had an idea. "Why don't we play one of the ones that you can sing to sis?" _

_She laughed. "Okay." She turned the pages to a song that was written in English. "I love this one! It's a song that we've performed in church before." She showed it to us. "But it's STB, meaning one soprano, one tenor, and one bass. We can't do that, unless Link is willing to sing, that is…"_

_I blushed. "Well, I can read music…I'm just not that skilled at music…"_

"_So are you going to?" Adam probed with a grin. _

"_Don't push me!" I shouted, my cheeks turning redder. I turned to Isabelle. "I'll do it, but if it sounds like a cat kicking the can, I apologize." _

"_I don't think it'll be that bad!" She giggled and began to play the intro as we both stood at one side of her. We began to sing:_

_I look around._

_A little scared,_

_I trip and fall_

_When nothing's there._

_My heart cries_

_A little more_

_When I'm not sure_

_What's in store._

_I…search…through _

_The darkness._

_And when I'm weak,_

_I call to you…_

_Lord, guide me…_

_Guide me down this road!_

_You provide me_

_With selflessness and hope._

_And it seems like_

_I never know who I am._

_Without you,_

_I'd never understand. _

_Oh guide me_

_When life is fraught with ghosts._

_Oh surround me,_

_With love that I can hold. _

_Help me make amends_

_For all my past mistakes._

_I'll do my best,_

_No matter what it takes. _

_Please guide me…_

_Guide me through my life._

_ She looked at me when we were finished singing. "See? You didn't sound that bad! You actually sounded pretty good!"_

_ "Really?" I asked her while turning red._

_ "Yeah!" She gleamed. "I like to think that everyone has a mutual understanding of music, they just like to__** think**__ that they don't." _

_ "Good job, Link!" Adam smiled at me. He started to smirk. "Maybe you two should sing a duet!"_

_ "What?!" I said in a squeaky voice. I looked at Isabelle and pointed at myself like an idiot. She nodded with a grin. "Okay." I said. "I'll do it…but only because Adam wants us to."_

_ "Uh, we don't really have to, Link." Isabelle replied. "Adam was just kidding!"_

_ I slapped my face and the three of us laughed. _

I came back to reality and had Epona gallop faster. I was worried sick about Isabelle! I have to be honest with myself; I have feelings for her. She probably doesn't have feelings for me but I have feelings for her. If she's going to die soon, I want to at least tell her that. I don't want to harbor those feelings inside for the rest of my life knowing that I didn't get to tell her. I sighed. I have been traveling for about 3 days, so I have only one more day until I arrive in Hyrule and can hopefully see Isabelle before and if she dies. Most importantly I wanted to be there to support her; that's what friends do for each other! I clenched my fists as a few tears escaped my eyes. "Quit crying, you idiot!" I said to myself. "So what, one of your friends is more than likely dying; no big deal!" That's the problem, it _is_ a big deal! I wiped the tears with my arm and quit crying. I glanced at my surroundings as the sun began to rise and closed my eyes. "Another day..." I mumbled. "Just please let her live another day or two…I don't want to arrive to a dead friend. Let her live long enough for me to see her and speak to her…" I opened my eyes. "Hang on, Isabelle. Stay strong!" I whispered with intent. "I'm coming to help you in any way I can!"

**It's getting pretty tense! Will Link make it in time? Stay tuned to find out! **


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series or the Characters.**

**Hello, folks! Thanks again for reading! Where we last left off Link heard that Isabelle's health is failing her, and he has been rushing to get home and hopefully make it in time! Will he make it in time to tell her what he needs to tell her? Read to find out! **

**Sorry this chapter is sooooo long, a lot of stuff happens in it. Enjoy, and as always, please review, it makes me a better writer! :DDDD**

Chapter 22: Timing

I traveled for another day and finally arrived in Hyrule. I rushed to the hospital in town and busted through the front door. I ran up to the front desk and slammed my hands on the desk, making the woman behind it jump. "Isabelle Lucille?"

She looked at me through her glasses and fumbled through a book. "Room 12." She glanced at me as I ran off. "No running in the hospital!" She shouted with a disgruntled sigh.

As I ran by the room numbers I spoke to myself in haste. "1…no! 2…no! 3…4…5…6…7…8…Damn it!" I yelled as I ran up the stairs. I almost tripped a doctor who was engrossed with looking at the charts of his patients on a clipboard as he walked down the stairs. I came up to the top of the stairs and ran right into a nurse, almost knocking her over.

"Hey!" She shouted. "You hooligan!"

I just kept running. I then saw Zelda pacing in panic near a door. When I came closer to her I realized she was standing by room 12.

She looked at me with relief. "Link!"

"Zelda!" I embraced her and gave her a quick kiss. "Is she…okay?"

She didn't say anything but took me into the room. Isabelle was in bed. "She's only asleep, so don't worry." She replied.

"Thank God!" I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I then noticed that Rusl, Uli, Telma, Adam, and Pierre were all there in the room as well.

I looked at Pierre and he nodded. "She has struggled." He said.

"Have you…" I started. "You know…followed with your plan yet?"

Everyone except Pierre looked confused. "No. I need to when or if she wakes up…"

"What do you mean 'if she wakes up'?" I said fearfully. He hesitated as his eyes began to get misty.

Zelda broke in. "The doctor said she's so weak that he doesn't think she'll ever wake up and that she could easily die while asleep."

Pierre clenched his fists. "It is sad."

My heart sank. "No way…" I said with my head down.

"That's the only unfortunate news." Zelda confirmed that it was the truth. "We're hoping that she'll wake up, even though she most likely won't."

Pierre started to tear up. "It look like she not make it!" He started sobbing uncontrollably. "God help me! I do not live without her!" I gave him a hug to help console him. I sat in one of the other chairs that were available and we were all silent. Pierre wiped his eyes with a handkerchief and Adam sat in a chair with his chin resting on his hand.

I noticed that Adam's leg was shaking with distress. I looked at him. "Are you alright? What can I do to help you?" I questioned.

"Nothing." He said. "I just don't want my sister to die…I'm not ready for it."

"I don't think anybody is." I said to him while shaking my head.

We sat there for the entire day and Isabelle didn't wake up, didn't even stir. She stayed fast asleep. The doctor came in. "She isn't up, is she?" We shook our heads. He went over to her and took off the cold cloth long enough to feel her forehead. "She still has a bit of a fever too." He sighed and wrote something on his chart and then left the room.

I got up and looked out the window and watched the sunset. "Are you okay, Link?" Zelda asked.

I sighed. "To be honest, I'm not okay." I said. "I don't know what to think anymore…" I looked at her. "I feel like I came too late…and I feel ashamed."

"You had no control over it." She reassured me. "Besides, none of us know if she'll wake up; maybe she will." She looked so tired. "I've been here for a long time, and she has had her difficulties…but she is strong. Don't count her out yet."

"You're right. I just need to stay positive." I rubbed her arm.

"Regretfully I have to go." She said. "I can't stay at the hospital all the time. I have to head back to the castle. Will you watch her, so long as you don't have work to do?"

I nodded. "I will." I gave her a kiss on the lips and she left. Uli and Rusl came up to me. "We have to leave as well, unfortunately…Rusl has a mission and I have to work." Uli said sadly. They left as well. I went back in the hospital room and saw Pierre holding Isabelle's hand and Adam sitting in a chair.

Pierre looked at me. "You not leave?"

"No." I answered, sitting down once again in a chair.

"Oh." He said, turning towards Isabelle once again and caressing her cheek. "S'il vous plaît me reveille; je veux voir vos beaux yeux. (Please wake up; I want to see your lovely eyes.)" He whispered.

I had no clue what he said, but from his gestures I assumed it was something lovey-dovey. I looked at the window from my chair. I then saw him give Isabelle a long kiss on the lips. _"Don't show your jealousy! Don't do anything rash…just ignore it!"_ I kept on thinking to myself. God, did it make me jealous, but I am with Zelda. I shouldn't be thinking this way! Great! Here's me and my emotions for two girls dictating my thoughts again! I couldn't help but stare as he showed his affection for her. I finally couldn't resist! "Look, I know that you want to express how much you love her, but she is asleep and there are other people in the room!" I shouted. "Can you please stop?!" I covered my mouth and immediately regretted what I said.

Pierre looked at me with discomfiture. "I'm sorry…"

"No." I said. "I'm sorry, Pierre." I looked down at my hands in my lap. "I didn't know what came of me…"

Pierre turned back to Isabelle. "Alright." He said.

Adam looked at me and I looked back. Adam nodded at me, though I wasn't sure why. "Pierre, je peux avoir un peu de temps seule avec ma soeur?" He said to Pierre.

"Mais bien sûr." Pierre replied. "Je comprends." He stood up and got ready to leave the room. He looked at me. "Adam wants time alone. Let us leave."

I nodded and followed him. Pierre left first, but Adam tugged at my sleeve. "When he is out of sight, come back in." He whispered.

"Huh?" I whispered back.

"Go." He said. I left the room.

Pierre and I exchanged good-byes as it was getting late, and we both walked out of the hospital. I didn't have anywhere to go, so I pretended that I was leaving, and when he was out of sight I walked back into the hospital. I felt bad, but I wouldn't be able to talk to Isabelle with him there. It was just for this one time. I needed to tell her how I felt, and I think Adam understood. "Now to see if she'll wake up." I said to myself as I walked up the stairs. I walked into the room and saw Adam by the bed looking at Isabelle. He turned to face me. "I could tell you were jealous." He smiled. "So I told him that I wanted time alone with my sister. He said that he was fine with it and left. That way you can spend time with her."

My face reddened. "T-thanks, Adam…"

He grinned. "You're welcome." I pulled up a chair and we both sat by her bedside. We sat there for at least an hour just talking with one another; every once in a while stopping to make sure that Isabelle was breathing steadily.

I started to doze off in the chair when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I woke up and saw Adam smiling at me. I looked at Isabelle and saw that she was still asleep like she was earlier. "What?"

He stood up from his chair which was closer to Isabelle. "Let's switch places."

"Okay…?" I said as we switched places. We talked for another minute or two and then I looked at Isabelle sleeping soundly.

At first I didn't notice what he was doing, but he grabbed Isabelle's arm and showed it to me. "You can hold her hand if you'd like." He beamed.

I let out a gasp as I blushed and looked away. "I shouldn't."

"What's stopping you? I told you that you could." He said with concern. "Come on, you know you want to!" He smirked as he took my arm and put her hand in mine.

I closed my hand lightly and felt how soft her hand was. My heart began to pound and my mouth started to feel dry. I looked at her once more, this time a little more dreamily; which I'm sure caused me to have a very stupid look on my face! I was so focused on looking at her that I didn't realize Adam had left the room. I honestly didn't know what to do…I didn't really want to let go of her hand, "but what if she woke up? Nah, she won't wake up; she hasn't all day!" I said to myself. I looked at her closed eyes and her flushed cheeks. And then inevitably I just had to look at her lips! I sighed as I continued to watch her sleep and kept holding her hand. "Don't kiss her, Link! You know that'll cause nothing but trouble!" I mumbled under my breath and continued to look at her, seeing her lips part to breathe out of her mouth. I brought her hand to my lips and gently kissed her hand.

The doctor came into the room. "What the hell?" He said in reaction to me holding her hand. "There was a different man holding her hand before?"

"I'm her older brother." I lied. "So she isn't cheating on the other guy or anything, I'm just supporting my sister."

"Yeah…sure…!" He said sarcastically. "Adam already told me. Don't sweat it!" He smiled and winked.

"Oh…" My face became more flustered.

He came over and felt her forehead. "Her fever's a little bit better than it was. That's a good sign!" He smiled as he wrote on his chart again and left the room.

Adam waltzed into the room. "You didn't see me leave, did you?"

"No…" I said timidly.

He laughed. "Have you kissed her yet?"

I was shocked. "WHAT?! NO!" I bellowed.

"You know you're still holding her hand!" He bantered.

I let go of her hand. "I-I-I didn't notice!" My face was getting redder. "Honest!"

"Whatever!" Adam chortled and left the room.

I held her hand again. Suddenly I heard a groan coming from her. I let go of her hand out of alarm and gently set it down and ran to the door. "Adam! Are you there?"

"Maybe!" He snickered from the other side.

I tried turning the doorknob to open the door, but he was preventing me from opening it. "Adam! This isn't funny!" I screamed.

"Oh, but it is!"

I kept on trying to open the door and finally resolved to pound it. "Why won't this door open!? Let me out! Let me out! I need out of this room!" I hollered.

I didn't see Isabelle's eyes flutter open. She sat up and saw me trying to get out. "Why are you yelling at the door?" She said quietly.

Chills went down my spine when I heard her voice. "Because I'm not supposed to be here. I belong in the psych ward." I said coolly.

She giggled and replied breathily, "I didn't know you were so crazy."

"I am!" I chuckled as I turned around.

"Did you…" She was quiet.

"What?" I inquired.

"…Did you come back from your mission to see me?" She looked at me and then looked away.

"I did." I said. "I got a letter from Zelda telling of your predicament and I was worried sick about you."

"You were?" She asked shyly.

"Yes." I said.

"W-why is there no one else here?" She asked. "Where are Pierre and all the others?"

"They had to leave. Adam is outside of the room."

"Why doesn't he come in?" She questioned.

"Because…he wanted to leave me alone…" I said while blushing and looked at her. "I need to talk to you."

She looked baffled. "What about? Why?"

I went over towards her and sat in the chair that was next to her bed. I looked over at the door and saw that Adam still wasn't coming in. I took a deep breath. "This isn't going to be easy…but as soon as I heard that your health was diminishing I knew that it had to be done…"

She still looked at me with confusion. "What had to be done?"

"I have to tell you the truth." I said to her.

"I…I think I know what you're going to say." She said in a whisper. "I'm sure that you didn't think I did, but I heard the conversation between you and Adam when I left the tent during that mission…"

I was surprised. "You…you did?"

She nodded and started to cough. I grabbed the towel and air-filled pouch just in case. Blood started to come out and I put the towel to her mouth. "Somebody help!" I yelled. Adam and the doctor rushed in. The doctor had me move aside and used the towel to catch the blood. She then started to wheeze and gasp for air. The doctor swiftly used the air-filled pouch to put air into her lungs. Adam looked at me with worry. "Isabelle…" I said sadly as I looked at her. Tears started flowing down her cheeks.

"We can't do this much longer." The doctor said with remorse as he checked her pulse. "Her breathing is very irregular, even though we used the pouch." He took out a vile of hemoptysis medication and had her drink it. "I'm going to use this just in case, but I'm afraid that she only has a couple of hours left…She's very weak." He looked at me. "She'd be lucky if she lived to see the sunrise."

She looked at the doctor with depression. "Am I really…dying…?"

He nodded. "I am sorry, Miss Isabelle. Your body can't bear your disease anymore. You are dying…all you can do is to make the most of the couple of hours you have left…" He slowly walked out of the room.

Adam started bawling and hugged Isabelle. "Please don't die sis!" She rubbed his back with her hand. "I don't want you to die! I don't want to be alone!" He started shaking from his tears.

I put my hand on his back and Isabelle stopped rubbing his back. "You won't be alone." I said to him. "I'm here for you. Whatever you need, just tell me."

He turned around and hugged me. "Thanks, Link…" He dug his face in my chest as he cried. We stopped hugging after a minute and he sat down in a chair and was silent.

It was dark in the room despite the lamplight by Isabelle's bed. I looked at her and saw that she was still crying. I sat by her bed and took her hand. She and I both blushed as I kissed her hand and stroked it with my thumb. I let go of her hand after a minute and looked at her. "I'm sorry…I was probably too forward…" I looked down at my hands. "I mean, you're with Pierre and I'm with Zelda, so I shouldn't be—"

"I don't mind." She interrupted me as she reddened. "C-could you maybe hold my hand again?"

I looked up in amazement. "Yeah…" I took her hand again. Adam smiled sweetly and got up to leave the room. "Wait…" I started.

He turned around and looked at me. "It's okay…really, it is." He walked out of the room and closed the door lightly.

She looked at me once more. "I have to be honest, too."

"What do you mean?" I was nervous as hell as I looked at her.

"…I like you too…" She said softly. "I just never said anything because it would have been too complicated…" She was as red as a tomato. "…I mean, you are with Zelda, and I am with Pierre." She looked at my hand that was holding hers. "T-that and, well, you're a noble, and let's face it, h-how could a noble like a peasant in that way?"

"And why should that kind of stuff ever matter?" I said in a whisper as I leaned in close and gave her a light peck on the lips.

She looked away, her cheeks still very rosy. "I like you very much, and I have admired you for a long time…" She coughed and cleared her throat and then looked at my hand holding hers again. Tears started to flow from her eyes again and I let go of her hand to wipe them away. She took in a wheezy breath. "I don't feel very good." She said hoarsely, clearing her throat once again.

I caressed her cheek and her face burned in a red hue. "I'm sorry…" I said. "Let me know if there's anything I can do for you…"

"There is one thing…" She said in a whisper. "…Will you kiss me again?"

I nodded and leaned in to kiss her. She started to kiss back and it ended up being a very passionate kiss.

"I don't want to die…" She cried.

"I don't want you to die. I care about you too much." I kissed her and put my forehead against hers.

"There are a couple of other things I'd like to ask of you, if you don't mind…"

"Just let me know. I'll do it." I said as I stroked her hair.

"When I do die, can you bury my music with me?" She looked sorrowful. "And can you watch over my brother and help him if he needs it?

"Yes." I said. "Of course I will." I lied down with her and she wrapped her arms around me as I kissed her again.

"I love you…" She whispered.

"I love you too…" I whispered back as I closed my eyes and gave her another long kiss. I opened my eyes and saw that her eyes were still closed. "I'll let you sleep." I whispered as I got up and sat back in the chair. I looked at her and wondered why she was so motionless. Did she…no! Please don't tell me she did! I checked her pulse. It wasn't there. I put my ear to her face to check her breathing. She _wasn't_ breathing. "ISABELLE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I tried to shake her awake.

Adam and the doctor came in and the doctor immediately checked her pulse. "She passed away." He put his hand on my back as I buried my face in the bed and cried like a blubbering idiot. Adam sobbed with his face in his hands.

I got up and grabbed the shirt collar of the doctor. "Please tell me you can give her life again!"

"I can't." He said. "I am sorry…"

He went over to put the blanket over her face. "Wait…" I said with tears in my eyes. I went over to her and gave her one last kiss on the lips, my tears falling on her face. I used my thumb to wipe my tears off of her cheeks. The doctor then pulled the blanket over her face.

I sat down in a chair and continued to cry.

In the morning I informed Zelda, Telma, Pierre, Rusl, and Uli of the sad news. We had her funeral that afternoon in the Castle Town's cemetery. We gathered around her casket. I had her songbook and a lone flower wrapped in my arms. That morning I had thought about what I wanted to say about her during her funeral. I decided that I would have to tell Zelda about the feelings I had for Isabelle; there was no other way. She was very understanding, and told me that "she had suspected it," but that it does not concern her and that we can still be together. During the funeral we took turns saying something about Isabelle. Then it was my turn. I stood in front of the casket. "When I met Isabelle, I saw her as a man and thought she was crazy. After I had learned that she was indeed a lady, we became best friends." I started to tear up. "I learned about her love of music and justice, and helped her and her brother in their time of need when it came to the slavery issue in France…She always sang like a bird and had a heart of gold." I looked at her casket and then back at the group. "Despite how much I tried to fight it, I slowly but surely fell in love with her…and I will miss her terribly; more than words could ever describe..." Rusl, Telma, Pierre, and Uli were stupefied. More tears rolled down my cheeks. "S-she has taught me how precious life is…and how anyone can impact the lives of others." I showed everyone her songbook. "This is where she kept the music she wrote." I swallowed to fight back the tears. "I brought it here to respect her request that she gave to me, to bury the songbook with her…" I put the songbook in her cold, dead arms and kissed her. "You will be missed…" I said quietly. We all mourned and an hour later the funeral was over.

A couple of weeks later I proposed to Zelda. She said yes, and we have been anxiously preparing for our wedding day. Only the goddesses know how I ended up loving two women at the same time…A couple of months later I went to the cemetery to visit Isabelle. I prayed in front of her tombstone and then kissed it after laying a flower down. I decided from that day on I would visit her tombstone at least twice a year. As I stood up from her tombstone after I finished praying a second time I heard Adam call out my name. I looked at him as he ran over to the tombstone and prayed. I put my hand on his head as he grinned bitter sweetly.

"I know it's hard, but she is in a better place looking down upon us." I beamed at him as he frowned. I punched him in the arm. "Hey, aren't I supposed to teach you some sword-fighting skills today?"

His face lit up. "Really? You'll start teaching me today!?"

I nodded. "Yep!"

He got his new wooden sword out of his knapsack. "I'm so excited! Thank you Link!"

I chuckled at his excitement. "You're welcome!" I looked back at Isabelle's tombstone. _"I miss you, but I know you are healthy and happy where you are, and that we'll all see you again someday."_ I thought to myself. _"I can't wait for that day. Say hi to my parents in heaven for me!"_ I smiled with tears in my eyes.

"Are you coming?" Adam shouted from in the distance.

A warm wind blew on my face. I thought for a second that maybe it was Isabelle telling me, _"quit crying! Enjoy life while you have it!"_ I grinned again as I wiped the tears from my eyes. "You're right, Isabelle." I whispered to myself.

"Hello? Are you coming?" Adam asked once again.

"I'm coming!" I called back. I ran up to him and put my arm around him as we walked away. He swung his wooden sword back and forth playfully with a huge smile on his face.

**The End…**


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